Why Kiley Roberts Left Me for Dead

Maybe the moon knows why. Moon sits all night in the sky and watches and watches and sees everything. I know the moon saw the last of Kiley Roberts as he edged himself into the pickup round midnight. Me, I was sleeping, curled up like a trusting cat. But that moon, it just watched and watched. Saw that final trace of big shoulder, wisp of wild hair. God, I wish I was the moon.

Things sure look bad this morning. Stretch of road leading out of here all gauzed up in Kiley's goodbye dust. How many times did Kiley tell me he was gonna leave some day cause life was passing him by. Me? I'd tell him life don't move that quick.

First thing I do, I take a look around. What else took off with Kiley? That, I already know.

All that cash. All that cash I had lumped up under the counter. Made me feel kind of sweet when I was serving up a sugar donut to Willie Briggs and him giving me the trucker wink cause he can't figure I'd ever go for a guy like Kiley what with Kiley out by the gas pump, all grease hands and dissatisfaction.

Made me feel good to know about the cash. Like a big, green secret I was keeping from the world.

I was saving to pay off the big debt Calvin got us into. Calvin's my Pop, and the drinking's gotten so that he only thinks sideways, like what's trouble is sitting right next to him. He gave up frontward thinking long ago, and that's how the big debt came up.

One day, Calvin was swabbing the counter and Big Hat comes in, orders ham and Swiss on a roll. Before I could set down the plate, Calvin had hocked up the diner for some quick cash. Cash goes in a quick tear on the boozy side of town. Cash goes. But the bank sure don't.

Thanks, Calvin. What are we gonna do now?

How many burgers you figure gets us the diner back?

Who knows? But I was trying to make it up. Working days behind the counter and nights, scrubbing dust off rich folk things. Working myself down to a rope fray and flopping down next to Kiley in our small, bony bed. I'll admit, passion's a bird flown off long ago. But love, that's a bigger bird, y'know?

Where's Kiley now, I wonder. Halfway to forever without me.

And Calvin? He ain't got much time. Pretty soon, he'll just crawl into that hole the drink dug in him.

But me, I'm gonna keep looking. Looking down this stretch of road to see what else I can make out through the dust. And when night comes, swallows up the road, I'll just stare up at the moon.

I'm gonna tell that moon it's got a lot of nerve. I mean you just can't count on it. One night it's full and the next it's nothing but comma. That old moon watching and watching as Kiley took off. Could have shined itself in the window and woke me like it done so many times before.

I'll bet that old moon's lookin' at Kiley even as I speak.