Father
As he exhales, a cockroach clambers over the desk’s edge. It lingers,
wiggling its antennae and clicking softly, then dashes to the middle of
the desk, half-way between both men, bobbing nervously back and
forth to face each. The smoking man sets down his cigarette and flips
the roach over. Both men watch it struggle to rise upright. Then the
young one in the armchair leans forward, nods, and places the roach
on the floor. It disappears quietly into the dark.
65