family friend by Philippe Shils

when after much deliberation we went to my woman’s old family friend about the damage we’d done to his place and he said with a charitable laugh that he wouldn’t keep the deposit all I could think of was the juices we’d left on the chair upon which he sat. as he chuckled about the picture frame we’d broken and mentioned his father’s disease I saw his mouth twist and thought that maybe he had it too.

Philippe Shils has had writing published in Rattle, Metazen, and Sixth Finch amongst others. Chapbooks are available label from UndergroundBooks and Right Hand Pointing.