Buy The Silent Hustler
by Sean Meriwether
[Lethe Press, 10.2009]

Originally published in The Aurelian [2004]

Icewater

The boy dropped down from the toilet and lit his cigarette with the free book of matches. He breathed in the dangerous odor, like concentrated maturity, then took a puff. His throat clenched as the smoke invaded, but he held his breath until the urge to cough dissipated. Christopher exhaled in a long, thin stream, feeling confident he had mastered the task. His father had warned him off smoking since it was the best way to get cancer, but Jimmy always bought a pack when he was drinking with the boys. Christopher could only smoke when he was out with his dad or his mother would smell it on his clothes. This would be his last cigarette.

He posed before the faded mirror with the cigarette dangling from his lip like he’d seen his father do. Christopher pictured a black and gray beard on his face and rubbed his soft chin looking for whiskers. There was nothing on his face yet, but he had a few long, curly hairs surrounding his penis. He pulled open his shorts and peeked down at his first signs of manhood. He nodded with satisfaction as the smoke burned his eyes. He pulled his penis out and sauntered up to the urinal, spit the butt into the stained ceramic cup and pissed it out. He hawked up a loogie and dropped it on top.

Finish reading "Icewater" in The Silent Hustler