This is My Confession

("I hope you can accept the fact that I'm man enough to tell you this.")

M. sat me down over breakfast and asked if he could get something off his chest. “So last night,” he says, “when we left the house to grab medicine for your brother?”

“Uh-huh,” I say.

“The lady in the gas station, the clerk behind the counter, I felt her giving me the eye when I walked in. Checking me out. She gave me a once over. When I got in line, I caught her looking at me again. But then there were two registers, and this other guy rang me up.”

“OK,” I say.

“So anyway, after I paid, I hid the Pepto Bismol under my arm as I walked out. I didn’t want the lady cashier to think I had diarrhea.”

“Ha!” I say.

“I don’t know if that counts as cheating, but I felt like you should know.”