three on losing

1. Ezra and I, chilly, sitting in Roosevelt Park among leaves, drinking coffee and reminiscing about the past. Watching some teenagers shoot hoops, when a bus pulled up to the light and some other kids, whose faces we could only see half from the bus windows, leaned out and shouted meanly to the boys on the court. And I screamed “cowards” and they said “fuck you four eyes” and the light went green and they drove away. And the basketball kids didn’t notice any of it or acted like they didn’t; just kept hitting shots, dunks making tings echo on the naked rim, held taut to the backboard by filthy strands of duct tape.
2. Spitting sad-style in the bodega so Cali, Canadian and full of love, said, “buy a scratch ticket.” so we bought one and won four dollars, so Cali used the money to buy four more and said “if it doesn’t win, throw it on the ground” and we propped ourselves against the concrete, scratching furiously and yelling at the tickets but still we lost, and then we lost again, until we’d lost four times. so we threw it on the ground.
3. “From: Steven Lankenau
To: Julianne Shepherd
Sent: Mon 10/18/2004
Subject: RE: Do you like our new painting?
I would have prefered if G-unit had not entered our house, but I respect your right to accessorize the kitchen.”