Weeds in the Road

1966:  Fears of getting caught and getting caught.   There was not much to watch on television at 2 a.m. except old, black and white movies.  I lit up a cigarette to keep awake.  The cigarettes were Marlboro because they came in a box and that was cool.  At the age of fifteen, it was all about looking cool with a cigarette in your hand.  I practiced holding it out between my index and middle fingers.  I tried inhaling; hacked and coughed.  When I stifled my coughing, I listened.  Quiet; except for the soft droning of a woman’s voice on the TV.  I was babysitting; the kids were asleep upstairs.    I sat in the living room, slouched on the couch with my knees hunched close to my chest, feet up.  The couple on the television moved in for a close up kiss.  My eyelids fluttered.  Then, I heard it—something.  Playing the sound back in my mind’s ear I couldn’t decide if it was a scrape or a kn...