Issue 1 cover

Drive Thru

by Kenneth Darling

Issue 1 :: Autumn 2007 (stories)

Ahead, a woman screams into the menuboard mic. Compensation for sudden jet turbines. Her order is lost to decibels. The reply is lost. She tries again. Louder. Blueberry muffin. Skim latte. She repeats the order.

I ask for two coffees, pull forward. The window slides open; a kid reaches through. His arm is mottled with something. Maple glaze or ketchup. He asks for three eighty-five. We paid thirty cents less yesterday. I just give the money. He passes the coffee and leers into the car. I see this all the time. He wants to know—what’s it like to fuck her?


...

Purchase the issue to read more of this piece and others

 
Or buy the rest of just this piece for $0.50!



"Drive Thru" is roughly 250 words.

A native of Boston, Massachusetts, Kenneth Darling's short fiction and poetry can be found in a number of literary journals, both online and at newsstands. He recently completed his first novel, Hiders, and is hard at work on his second. He shares a home, a life, and a website with Nadine Darling, a national treasure.