by Clint Walker<\/p>\n
She follows him through the drugstore, late at night, hovering over his shoulder while he tries to find his brand of condom. He\u2019s too embarrassed to buy them by himself. His excuse is, \u201cI can\u2019t take those up there. They\u2019re going to know what I\u2019m going to do with them.\u201d \u201cYes,\u201d she says. \u201cThat\u2019s the point. That\u2019s why you shouldn\u2019t feel embarrassed. They\u2019ll know you\u2019re getting laid.\u201d He ignores everything she says while he starts to pace. She asks which kind he\u2019s looking for, and he says, \u201cThe green box. It should say \u2018large.\u2019\u201d When she laughs, he responds that he\u2019s not trying to show off. He tries to explain that \u201clarge\u201d doesn\u2019t really mean \u201clarge\u201d anymore. It really means \u201cmedium.\u201d Since you can\u2019t order a small soda with your two-cheeseburger meal, just like you can\u2019t really buy \u201cTrojan small\u201d either. She laughs again and helps him look. She even goes to the drug counter to ask if they have his brand. They mutually decide on a suitable replacement.<\/p>\n
They reach the parking lot and walk to separate cars and he thanks her for the help. \u201cYou saved the day,\u201d he says. \u201cShe\u2019d kill me if I got off the plane and I didn\u2019t have these.\u201d She asks when he\u2019s coming back. He says a month or so. She asks if he\u2019ll be back in time for a mutual friend\u2019s wedding. He says he will be, but he won\u2019t. She will attend with a third-tier friend she scrounges up at the last second. He hugs her goodbye and drives off. His flight leaves early in the morning. She stands alone on the cold asphalt and looks up and down at the franchises on Restaurant Row: An entire street of backlit logos, all with black plastic letters affixed to bright yellow message boards, each and every one exhorting her to eat shit.<\/p>\n
CLINT WALKER<\/strong> is a lifelong resident of Central Illinois. He has spent time as an English teacher and has also just completed his graduate studies at Eastern Illinois University. It\u2019s there that he won the James K. Johnson Creative Writing Award in 2010. His work has been published at Carte Blanche<\/em>, Mary Magazine<\/em>, and Work Magazine<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Clint Walker She follows him through the drugstore, late at night, hovering over his shoulder while he tries to find his brand of condom. He\u2019s too embarrassed to buy them by himself. His excuse is, \u201cI can\u2019t take those … Continue reading