800

Geoff out of Tennessee
sent me a letter
it said

“…four in the afternoon and I ain’t stopped drinking in days. I haven’t had an appetite either. That’s some funny shit. You ever get like that? Wake up at 6 with some coffee and a cigarette and watch the dew disappear with the rise of the sun. I do. I think of my folks cradled in their graves - I guess I’ve gotten dark since we last spoke.
I spent some time in Vegas and made a new name for myself. I changed my name to Robert and wore cowboy boots on the casino floors. Belt buckle, a big one too. Robert is a gambler - he spent all my money. I’m not asking you for any, by the way. I met this woman at my hotel ice machine - a shitty run down joint outside the city limits. She had her hair down and it hit her shoulders and hid underneath the top of her coat. She wore a wedding ring - just like me, huh? She wore a wedding ring but she wasn’t the married type. Maybe she had some kids and maybe she was running away - I didn’t ask her. Anyway I ran, Robert or Bob ran into this doll by the ice machine and he fell in love and I carried the torch for them. We spent some nights curled up on a bare mattress, her talking bout bed bugs and me staring at the way she ashes her cigarette without looking.
You probably think her husband kicked in the door or some fat fuck came to collect or some shit. Hell I thought that too. I thought I was in some basic cable runaway bride shit but nobody came. After a week she hit the road without saying goodbye.
I had my heart taken out a little bit. I think she put it in her glovebox to look at whenever she got bored on the road.

Anyway… you asked how I was doing, saw you called but I was out in the west falling for a woman with stained fingers and wrinkles. I’m laughing as I write this don’t worry.
If you’re ever driving north to see your folks, stop by in Tennessee and I’ll buy you a drink.

-
Geoff”