Word Riot

Silo
by Joseph Young

     I get done listening to some CDs, and I've got such an ache going in me that I have to go outside. We live on the edge of town, my mom and dad and me, and right outside our den windows the cornfields start up. In the summer, the corn's real glisteny and green, and when I prop my window open to let in some air, that weird corn smell comes puffing in with the wind. But right now it's winter time, and it's just completely flat and white until your eye gets to a couple trees or to the Hubley's silo. It's totally quiet out, too. It kind of helps.
     Down about a mile is The Corner, and I start in that direction. Once in awhile if Hugh is drunk he'll sell you a bottle of something. He gives you a wink, and tears pop into his eyes. "You kids," he says. "God damn, you wonderful kids." He puts the bottle in a paper sack and creases the top so straight, and it's like he's going to die, the look that's on his face.
     Just my luck though that Hugh isn't there and his brother Tal is minding the store instead. He gives me a dirty look when I push through the door and then goes back to smoking his cigarette and reading the paper. I poke around in the candy and chips aisle and then bring a bag of cheese curls to the counter.
     "Where's Hugh?" I say as I hand my 50 cents over.
     "What?" he says, and the smoke curls out of his nose.
     "Your brother? Hugh?"
     "I know who he is." He throws the money into the cash register and slams the drawer shut.
     I look at him a second, and when he doesn't say anything, go for the door. But as I start to push out, Tal glances up at me.
     "He's got a lung filled with water," he says. "Went to the hospital this morning."
     I stop. "Oh really?"
     Tal shows his crooked teeth. "Yes, really."
~

     I decide I'll take a walk downtown. I open the bag of cheese curls and put them in my mouth one by one, letting them crackle on my tongue as they melt. It hurts a little, like licking the top of a 9-volt battery.
     When I get downtown, some of my friends are hanging out in the park. Seth's there with his skateboard, so I guess he's out of Pine Ridge. Wasn't in for very long this time.
     "Hey," I say.
     "Hey," he says back. "What's up?" He never really looks at you when he talks, and all the words come out sideways from his mouth.
     "Not much. Borrow your board?" He hands it to me and I start skating around the fountain, slipping a little on some patches of snow, letting the wind blow back my hair. When I come back around, I flip the board up with my foot and hand it to him. "How was Juvie?" I say.
     He smiles. "Okay. I got into a lot of fights."
     "Yeah? Win or lose?"
     "Mostly win." He shrugs in this weird, shy way he has. "There's a lot of pussies there."

     A bunch of us go over to McDonald's for lunch and then I head back home. Seth walks with me a ways, throwing pebbles into the snow and listening for the little sound they make. When we get near The Corner, he points at it.
     "Hear about Hugh?" he says. "He's in the hospital."
     "Yeah. How'd you know?"
     "He's my dad's friend. Hugh comes over once in a while." He shrugs. "Sometimes he slips me beers if my dad isn't looking."
     We walk a couple more minutes and then Seth puts his hand up goodbye and turns the other way. I go on alone, and it's starting to snow a little, sticking on my coat as it falls. I look at the Hubley's silo and think a while about Darla Hubley. She's cute. That gives me something to do as I head home. When I get to my room though, the ache starts going again. I try putting on some more CDs, four or five in a row. When it gets dark, I click off the light and listen to the wind come across the fields.

About the author:
Joseph's work has appeared or is forthcoming in storySouth, Hobart, Blue Moon Review, The God Particle, Mississippi Review, Literary Potpourri, Opium, Pindeldyboz, Monkeybicycle, and elsewhere.