right hand pointing

B r a d   R o s e

Betty’s Prized Possession

Although her sunburned face is wrinkled as a pug puppy, and her matted hair is a shock of electric fright-wig current, today it thrills no one but Betty to know that underneath this tattered, ankle-length wool coat, buttoned tight as a zip-lock bag, she wears her brand-new Victoria’s Secret, leopard-print thong, as she pushes her shopping cart through the ember of the Phoenix streets, toward the aluminum reclamation center, where, just as he does each week in exchange for her collection of recyclable cans, Larry will hand Betty the cool, clean cash that he assumes she spends exclusively on powdered crack.