by Nick White
But no! It cannot end this way. Not yet. She will get up from this chair. In just another minute, when her chest settles. She will go to the phone and order them a pizza from the nearby truck stop—yes—and have it delivered before they return. They will gather around the table and feast tonight, the three of them. Start anew. She will cram her face with slice after slice of oily pepperoni goodness.
“Who’d have thought,” she will tell her son, “that it would have been you and me together at the end?” Yes, yes: It will happen just this way.
“You two better appreciate me while you still can,” she will tell the boys, her boys. “Tomorrow’s never promised.”
They will laugh at her. Forney will say, “Old woman, you’ll outlive all of us.” And MeMaw will shake her head and point to the boy, to sweet Henry. “That one there—he’s the survivor in the family.” Those words will be the truest ones anyone in this family, living or dead, has ever spoken; she will raise her beer can. “Henry James Culpepper, I bless you. I bless you with a long and happy life.”
At this, Henry, smiling, will grab another slice of pizza and say, most assuredly, “Amen!”
Amen, amen, amen!
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This book of stories would not have existed without the following people (in alphabetical order): Lee K. Abbott, Jonis Agee, Joy Castro, Kathy Fagan, Michelle Herman, Lee Martin, Erin McGraw, Amelia Montes, Timothy Schaffert, Stacey Waite, and Nancy Zafris. Also, I am eternally grateful to the editors of various literary journals who first saw fit to publish these stories: the good people at Day One, Indiana Review, and Third Coast; David Lynn at the Kenyon Review; Meakin Armstrong at Guernica; Justin Taylor at the Literary Review; and David Yezzi at the Hopkins Review.
Many thanks to Noah Ballard, my tireless agent, and everyone at Curtis Brown, Ltd.
Kate Napolitano is my hero—now and always. Much love to everyone at Blue Rider Press and Penguin Random House, especially Emily Canders, Kayleigh George, and Caroline Payne, who had a hand in getting this book in order. All my love and gratitude to Katie Zaborsky, who was the fearless captain of this collection and led this book beautifully to shore.
Special props to the talented Tammy Carl for her artistry, and ditto to Cody Stuart for giving me the (cocktail) recipe for success.
Lastly, my family—thank you for letting me be me.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Nick White is the author of the novel How to Survive a Summer. His fiction and essays have appeared in The Kenyon Review, Guernica, The Literary Review, LitHub, and elsewhere. He teaches creative writing at The Ohio State University.
nickwhite1985
thenickwhite.com
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