Promise not to stay out too late.
 
 “I’ll do my best.” Okay, so
 
 I traded a lie for a lie. No
 
 doubt everyone knows it.
 
 “Oh, there’s Dad now.”
 
 Don’t tell him I said hi, jokes Leigh.
 
 At least she found her sense
 
 of humor. I kiss Hunter on
 
 the forehead. “Be a good boy.
 
 Tomorrow’s your big day.”
 
 He gurgles and smiles. He loves me.
 
 I Love Him, Too
 
 But I have to admit I don’t think
 
 about him more than a couple
 
 of times as Dad, Linda Sue, and I
 
 dive into the half-ass crank.
 
 Dad’s got a big glass tray, which
 
 he sets on the cracked Formica table
 
 in their dog-eared motel room.
 
 Let’s see what you’ve got there, he says.
 
 “It’s…” I think about apologizing,
 
 but decide to wait until he comments.
 
 He opens the bindle, says nothing
 
 about the powder inside. It’s what?
 
 “A little shy, I think. The guy
 
 I got it from took his cut up front.”
 
 Ah, well, a dealer is a dealer,
 
 I guess. Dad draws huge lines.
 
 He hands me the straw. The birthday
 
 girl always goes first, right?