ANTHONY: DEAD AT 24 - dillon j. welch

 

Tony took the equivalent of four trips to the emergency room. Popped ‘em in church, in front of a priest who was giftwrapping sermons for lethargic housewives & small dog owners. The priest told the news later that Tony was a good kid, he meant well. Said his head was a box of marbles sometimes. Said he worried about him sometimes. I worried about him sometimes. I always wondered what he was thinking when he looked at rusted train tracks, when he saw cleaning solution under the sink. Tony was always looking for solutions. Told me once that we should line the bodies of downed trees along the road, that way cars wouldn’t hit frogs crossing the street in the rain. I thought about it for a few weeks, the log idea. I needed to know, y’know? So I caught Tony on a Tuesday, staring at cutlery in the supermarket. How will you lug all those logs? Arms crossed, eyes fixed on the knives, Tony spoke: “Not sure. But there’s a way around everything, Father told me.” He reached out, ran his fingers along the edge of a blade. “I’m starting to think it's a lie.”


 
Dillon J. Welch
As She Climbed Across the Table
Jonathan Lethem