De Amerikaanse schrijver Stewart O’Nan werd geboren op 4 februari 1961 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Zie ook alle tags voor Stewart O’Nan op dit blog.

Uit: The speed queen

“I love you,” he said, still gasping. He didn’t even say my name.
And what was I supposed to say? That I felt sick, that I wished I hadn’t let him?
I said it back.
“Are you okay?” he said.
I knew there would be blood but not so much. I wiped my thighs with the blanket and folded it over.
“I’m okay,” I said. “I just need to clean up.”
“I’ve got Kleenex,” he said, and reached through the back window of the cab and handed me the box. He knelt there staring at me.
“Watch the movie,” I said.
I stuffed some up there, but I still felt sick, so I put on my top and my old underwear and my shorts and found my clogs. Monty wouldn’t leave me alone. “I’m okay,” I kept telling him. “I just need to use the bathroom.” He wanted to come with me, but I finally shouted at him, and he let me go.
I jumped down from the tailgate and almost fell. My legs were shaky and my stomach was churning like a washing machine. Everything down there stung. I stumbled over the dusty mounds toward the red flourescents outlining the snack bar. It was circular and shaped like a witches hat, the projector in the top part. You could see the movie scissoring through the air. We were in the back, like a mile away. The last hundred feet were deserted. A green light burned on each unused speaker like an eye. Halfway there, I knew I wasn’t going to make it. I stopped and leaned against a speaker pole and heaved up everything I’d eaten–the Champale and the mustard fries, the nachos and the Dots–all of it splashing hot over my Dr. Scholl’s. I spit to clean my mouth and kicked dust over everything and went on.
My thighs were sticky, and getting sick made me cry, so my face was a mess. I knew the bathrooms were by the front, so I walked around the outside and slipped in, hoping no one would see me.“