In Over Her Head by Elsie Russell - Parnasse.com

"Meth?" Penny asked.
"Yep, crystal. Had the lab in the barn, it's him burned it down,
so now he's just a two bit middleman, hangin' around convicts and
niggers. Him and Dad were out huntin' round Thanksgivin'. I stayed
here, back's been out. Fuckin' murdered him, I swear! Hell, I'd kill'im
myself, but it's too much fun watchin' him go down the tubes, know
whuddah mean?" Mitch snorted.
"Sorry, Mitch. Been a helluva a year for everybody, huh? Well,
say hi to K.C., next time you two hook up, I gotta get back to Dad."
She got up and started towards the door.
"You know he kinda adopted this freaky geek, right? Grolsch.
Real basket case. Better off with your wop, Penny. I tell ya, whole
world's going to the dogs. Were you there?" He pointed to the flag.
"Yup. I live a couple blocks away, in this basement. The super
has a generator for summer brownouts, so I just kept on workin',
nothing much else I could do. Well, I gotta go, okay? Take care of that
back and watch it too!"
"Ha! Yeah! Thanks for stoppin' by. See ya 'round."
Penny let herself out, careful not to let the dogs escape.
Back at the house, Dad was still in the middle of his equations
at the kitchen table. Lurch was nowhere in sight.
"What do you want for dinner, Dad?"
"I'm busy, make yourself something."
She nuked herself a couple of hot dogs, squirted some Guldens
on them and poured some sludge into a pencil smeared mug. Her room
was out of the question, so she sat in the living room, unchanged
except for the lack of plants and the piano, that was long gone to make
way for tall gray metal bookcase bookcases crammed with dull books
on hydroelectric systems, Brave New World cities and Kennedy era
politics, though not of the grassy knoll conspiracy kind. In the faded
shabbiness of the living room a heavy black and white TV cabinet still
loomed in front of the rotting foam filled sofa. Out the picture window
the old car was parked under the Douglas firs. Beyond them spindly
aspens quivered in the arctic wind, shining brightly, even against the
snow.
Penny looked down at her ring. Engaged? She slipped it off.
The ring had always looked beat up, but in this house it looked like
another shabby trinket from the Salvation Army. She switched it to her
right hand finger and curled up on the couch.
Penny woke to monosyllabic male voices. She didn't even use
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