A Bulge in His Pocket by Sean Starr

 

you see Lowell walking down the street with a bulge in his pocket

(no you pervert, that’s not what I meant)

its a small shiny pocket knife

it cost him three hundred dollars

he takes it out sometimes while he sits on the phone with clients

getting lost in another world as they ramble on

about the new jet skis they used over the weekend

and he thinks about when he was nine years old

and he cashed in Coke bottles for weeks

to save up for the piece of crap pocket knife

that he had been wanting from the hardware store

he gave up Icees and candy bars for weeks to get that thing

it had “Barlow” inscribed on its side

the day he finally bought it for five bucks

he was beside himself

he walked down the street with a bulge in his pocket

ready for anything

he had enough left over for a bottle of Coke

and pried the top off with the Barlow

the tip of the knife broke off

and years went by

and he made some money

and dropped three hundred bucks on a small piece of art

that he carries around in his pocket

because he vowed at nine

that he would never be broke again