chapter 15
september 21, this year.

Here is another one of the things that I left out:

When I came home from school on the first day, Gary was punching my dad in the head. I saw it through the screen. My dad’s head snapped backward and then lolled forward like a bobblehead in a car crash.

Gary looked up and saw me.

My dad did not.

I waited on the front steps for twenty-five minutes. I smoked a joint and listened to four songs on my iPod. Then I swung open the door and went in.

“What happened to your head?” I shouted at my dad. I wasn’t mad at him until I saw him, just sitting there like nothing had happened.