his truck breaks down

past repair

so larry calls us all over
for a bbq on the bed

of his 1979 chevy truck
and we all talk about

all the times bessie
(named after his grandma because she helped him buy it)

took us to the movies
or on trips into the city

and i tell the story
of how one summer afternoon we went up to the lake

and just hung out the whole day
potato chips and beef jerkey

sodas and cookies
and a cherry frisbee

that someone had drawn a smiley face on
that hit tommy square in the jaw

and a group of pretty girls laughed at him
(one of those girls being celia - who married tommy)

and how larry came up to me
and wanted me to hit him in the jaw

with the frisbee so that one of the girls
would come over and ask if he was ok

and i told larry i was not that accurate
so he just held the frisbee in front of his face

and danced around like a red faced smiley cartoon character
which the girls found really creepy

and we all laughed
but when everyone left

and i was helping him clean up
i saw him in the corner crying

then he came over and shook his head
and i asked if everything was ok

and he smiled sadly
but then laughed

just hoping bessie can drive bessie around up in heaven.