I wrote this for a contest run by 53 Press. I don’t remember much about it except it had to be 53 words exactly, and I didn’t win.

Name Game

Rockwell Rhodes hated it when his cousin Patrice called him “Rocky Road”.

She would say it in an endearing manner so he would buy her drugs.

He didn’t mind scoring dope for her, but the sense of being manipulated just

fucking annoyed him. Maybe he’d buy her ice cream, and claim he misunderstood.

Doug Mathewson