{"id":725,"date":"2023-11-19T18:26:43","date_gmt":"2023-11-20T02:26:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/seanmiller.us\/blog\/?p=725"},"modified":"2023-11-19T18:26:46","modified_gmt":"2023-11-20T02:26:46","slug":"2nd-draft-of-confessions-chapter-26","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/seanmiller.us\/blog\/2nd-draft-of-confessions-chapter-26\/","title":{"rendered":"2nd Draft of Confessions, Chapter 26"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

I’m plowing my through the second draft of Confessions of a Hallway Hustler<\/em>. I was hoping to be done with this draft a couple weeks ago. But you know how it goes. Most chapters are taking longer than expected to work my way through.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I still haven’t decided on names for the characters, apart from the protagonist, who I’m calling Anton. So, for the time being, I’m using the names from the Scarface<\/em> script.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here’s the second draft of Chapter 26:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elvira looked around, her eyes lingering on the row of pinball machines. “Did you really get all this just for a clubhouse?”
I shrugged, trying to play it cool. \u201cWell, a king needs a castle, right?\u201d
She couldn’t hide her smile. \u201cAnd what’s with the trophy?\u201d
\u201cIt\u2019s not just any trophy. It\u2019s the Piston Cup.\u201d
\u201cNever heard of it.\u201d
\u201cFrom that animated film about race cars.\u201d
\u201cI don\u2019t watch kiddy movies. And I don\u2019t like racing. Bunch of guys driving around in circles, guzzling gas, polluting the air.\u201d
\u201cIt’s not about the racing. It’s about the winning.\u201d
She snickered. \u201cYou like to win?\u201d
\u201cOf course.\u201d
Elvira shook her head. \u201cOnly you, Anton. Only you would turn an old storage shed into\u2026whatever this is.\u201d
I puffed out my chest, feigning offense. \u201cIt’s a sign, Elvira. A sign of my greatness.\u201d
She laughed, taking a seat on one of the pleather couches. “You never cease to amaze me, Anton. But I have to admit, this is pretty cool.”
I grinned, joining her on the couch. “I knew you’d like it.”
We sat in comfortable silence for a moment, just taking in the ambiance of the room. The hum of the fridge. The glow of the neon signs. The pallets stacked with Snap. It was all so\u2026perfect.
I broke the silence. \u201cWhat\u2019s gonna happen to Lopez? You talked to him? Since\u2026\u201d
\u201cSince he showed up at school to find his whole garage \u2018office\u2019 set up perfectly on the front lawn?\u201d
I chuckled. \u201cYeah, since then.\u201d
\u201cNo.\u201d
\u201cNo?\u201d
\u201cWe broke up.\u201d
\u201cOh.\u201d
\u201cIt just didn\u2019t make sense anymore. What with him getting expelled. I hear he\u2019s moving. I hear his mom got a new job. In another state.\u201d
\u201cYou hear a lot, for someone who hasn\u2019t talked to him.\u201d
Elvira reached out and put her hand on mine. \u201cIt\u2019s over, Anton.\u201d
I wanted this moment to last forever. Suddenly, her face lit up with an idea. “You know what this place needs?”
\u201cWhat?\u201d
She jumped up, racing towards the fridge. \u201cA toast! To the king of Jerburbia Middle. And his castle.\u201d
I laughed.
She grabbed two tall cans of Infarction and brought them back to the couch.
I was about to chug mine down when she stopped me.
\u201cNo, that\u2019s not enough. We need something more.\u201d She went over to the pallets and tugged out a case from the middle of a stack. Clawing the case open, she handed me not one but three packets and took three for herself.
\u201cWow,\u201d I said. \u201cYou like to go big.\u201d
She ripped off the tops of the three packets. With the packets raised in one hand and the energy drink in the other one, Elvira stood up and declared to the room. \u201cTo Anton Montana, the craziest guy I know.\u201d
She slammed her can against mine. Fizzy orange liquid sloshed all over the couch.
She laughed. Then she tips all three packets of Snap into mouth. Then she tipped the can back and filled her mouth with a big slurp of energy drink. The popping and crackling was loud. It filled the room.
I followed her lead. The giddiness hit me like a slap to the face. We fell back on the couch, the Snap fizz frothing out of our mouths. I was giggling uncontrollably. So was she. We slumped on each other, shoulder to shoulder.
I clinked my can against hers again, bits of Snap flying from my mouth as I spoke. \u201cTo a future so bright\u2026\u201d
\u201cSo what?\u201d
\u201cSo what\u2026what?\u201d
We cracked up.
\u201cI dunno,\u201d I mumbled.
Elvira rested her head on my shoulder. I breathed in the scent of her drugstore shampoo. Paradise.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I’m plowing my through the second draft of Confessions of a Hallway Hustler. I was hoping to be done with this draft a couple weeks ago. But you know how it goes. Most chapters are taking longer than expected to work my way through. I still haven’t decided on names for the characters, apart from … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[8,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-725","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","category-process","no-featured-image-padding"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/seanmiller.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/725","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/seanmiller.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/seanmiller.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seanmiller.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seanmiller.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=725"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/seanmiller.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/725\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":726,"href":"https:\/\/seanmiller.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/725\/revisions\/726"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/seanmiller.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=725"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seanmiller.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=725"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/seanmiller.us\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=725"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}