Baller

Baller

the ball
ricocheted
off the rim
then off
his mother's car
and dribbled
down the driveway
headed
for
mill street

with the child
chasing
blindly
behind
he saw it all
coming
so he slammed
on the brakes
of his old dodge
just as the child
darted
before it

as the tires
screamed
his beers
shot off
the front seat
ricocheting
off the dashboard
some shattering
and bursting
other bottles
spraying
like busted
pipes
as the delicate
engine
of his old dodge
died
from the shock

on their porch
the child's mother
blithely smiled
and waved
as gratitude
for the abrupt
life-altering
stop

in shock
he let down the window
to curse at her
"keep your goddamned kid
out of the street"

he turned the key
but his fragile engine
only whimpered
as the beer
continued
to spit
sopping
the floor mat
of his delicate
old
dodge

he got out
stormed around
opened the passenger door
and threw
the gurgling
geysered brews
in the grass
then went to the front
of the old dodge
and opened the hood

he jiggled some wires
while the mother
called the cops
and 
since nothing worked
underneath the hood
he finally called 
for a tow

the officer
arrived
before the tow
with the mother explaining
he was drunk
he'd almost struck her kid
and how he'd cursed her
so rudely

she pointed the cop
to the bottles
in the grass
then knowing
the cop
could smell it
in the old dodge
and on him

the tow driver came
the cop
instructing him
to haul
the drunkard's truck
away
though the owner
of the old dodge
only had
two drinks
before he'd gone out
for more

as the cop
put him in the cruiser
the mother
told her son
"what an awful man"
as the boy
sneered
at the driver
of the old dodge
whose attention
and reflexes
had saved
his life

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7. Write a poem incorporating your favorite beverage, an automotive malfunction, and basketball