“It’s sheared off.” Steve said. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”
The letter ‘n’ had flown off the President XII one night writing poetry. I rode out to Duncan-Muñoz Office Machines on a hateful day to see if Steve could fix it.
“How much you get this for?” He asked.
“Seventeen dollars.” I touched the carriage with the tip of my finger. “And it’s done me a world of good too. I can’t tell you how many poems I wrote with this typewriter. We ruled it, brother. We conquered.”
Steve lit up a Marlboro Light 100.
“Yeah, well. I’d call it a day hermano. Looks like you got your money’s worth.”
“Nah,” I said. “I’ll keep her. I just won’t write anything with the letter ‘n’ anymore.”
Me and Steve laughed.
I loaded the President XII into the Kia in the cold. I looked down at the machine as I drove.
“You are a beautiful machine.” I told it. “You helped me make a masterpiece of my pain and for this I thank you. You are my friend.”
The sun was setting on Braker and the night was coming down.
“Hello Night,” I said to the enemy. “Let’s get this over with.”
Going for the Throat 
I want to know more…..where did you take her?
Did you put her out of her misery? (or maybe it would be your misery without her)
“You helped me make a masterpiece of my pain. And for this I thank you. You are my friend”-
Haunting, concrete,real, and imaginary AT THE SAME TIME.
Oh I still got the President XII Tower. As I wrote, she’s kind if hard to get rid of. I’ve been biding my time with a black&tan Meteor Adler, but me&Steve agree it’s an inferior machine. Not to worry. Big change, soon come. Thanks for reading!
[…] was a time. When as matador I could take it on. Sit behind the President XII and the bottle and work it out. But you get up. And you get over. Maybe look back longingly […]
[…] day, working 60 hours a week caring for a quadriplegic, without a car or a prayer and a slate white IBM Selectric II on a broad oak table. Savage. And then there he is, my compatriot. Out there reading my stuff and […]
[…] can’t afford toilet paper and asks me for the rent, the letters on the Selectric stick sometimes, Steve at Duncan shakes like an alcoholic when I bring the machine in for repairs so maybe that’s why, […]
[…] CVS jawns—with covers black, grey and red, on the heralded President XII Tower, the beautiful machine, on a fire engine red IBM Selectric II, on a MacBook Pro that’s overheating and finally on an […]