we went to the movies in strip malls that littered the suburbs surrounding the twin cities - we saw that one about johnny cash - he overreacted to scenes that were somewhat innocuous - moaning about true love and how he would never find it - we saw a movie about john lennon - he complained about so much we got our money back - took the refund to a coffee shop and stole a stack of compact discs - movies in the afternoon cost five dollars it was winter and we were cold - the radiator froze our wet laundry froze the buses barely ran - we squeezed into a red sleeping bag staring at the cd player play franz ferdinand - when we fought i hid that cd beneath the mattress when we forgave i gave it back -when he took too much he put on my clothes and said "let's paint the town red." when he sobered up he was ashamed - he was a sister a kitten a cockroach a comfort a brother a partner - we went to the movies in strip malls