Nobody talked That was the whole ride

Nobody talked. That was the whole ride.

I kept almost saying something. Tried

and stopped. Tried again. The words came up

and sat there. I stopped for gas. The cup

of whatever I'd been about to say

stayed empty. Four minutes. The day

kept going. I came back and they'd

put the hood up. Phone face-down, displayed

to no one. The whole drive before

it had been in their hands. I know the score

on phone face-down. I know the hands

in the lap. I drove. The town expands

past the window the same way it always does.

I found a sticker on the car ahead. Because

I needed something to read, I read it twice.

We got home. They went in. My advice

stayed in my chest. I sat in the car.

The engine ticked. I couldn't go far

into anything. The hands. The hood. The phone.

Face-down the whole way home.