Visiting Mom
Flash Fiction By Seamus O’ Leary
Nubs drove his grey 1990 Lincoln Town Car through the toll plaza on I-90 in Chicago, while holding his cell phone to his ear with the three fingers of his left hand.
“I’m going to visit with my ma. I’ll only be a little bit, and then I’ll meet you there.” He said, and hung up the phone.
He exited the interstate and swiped his card to pay the toll. Then, he drove into shittier and shittier neighborhoods.
“This place is going to hell.” He said to himself, looking at the run down houses, graffiti, and questionable characters. “It’s not like it used to be.”
He pulled up to his mom’s single story apartment, and dragged his massive frame from the car. He wasn’t fat. He was built. He worked out so he could do his job and pay the bills. He considered it a badge of honor to pay his debts, stay healthy, stay clean, and follow the code that he believed existed between professional men like him.
He looked at the neighbor’s parking spot with disdain. The guy was under the hood of some classic car with parts and oil everywhere. The neighbor’s yard was trashed, with kid toys, beer cans and baby diapers. It was like this all the time.
