One of Us
“He heads slowly down the hill toward the school, not going anywhere in particular, just following his feet. Behind him, half a mile back, is the place where he lives: an old motel, one of the first built on this stretch of the coast, now mostly empty for the winter. He doesn't know yet that the motel will define his idea of living space forever, that he will always seek out places with clean rooms and empty corridors, where you nod to strangers at a distance and know that you will be leaving ag...ain before you even step in the door. It's just home, and always has been. His father is the caretaker there—air-conditioner supremo, banisher of bugs and rodents, and cleaner of pools. His mother works in a bar/restaurant a mile down the beach, and has done so all her life. She's there now, ferrying burgers and frosted glasses of beer, yakking with her friend Marlene and listening to the guitarist play "The Great Filling Station Holdup" for the first, but not the last, time of the evening.The boy left his father sitting comfortably in front of the tube, watching a tape of an old Braves game for like the eighteenth time.MoreLess
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