Sean

16

The Coca-Cola Gang

Four gangly adolescents emerge from the creek
their clothes streaked with mud
pebbles cascading from their hickory-colored hair

Passing them, they stare
a look of annoyance and anticipation

I round the bend
the tires bouncing over the cracks

they crack open the cokes they'd smuggled from ____ their mom's basement fridge
to quench their thirst on that July afternoon
picking the mud off their shirts
and laughing at my pointless hastiness.