Headshot

by Rita Bullwinkel

The adults wish they wanted anything as bad as these girl boxers want to be the best in the world at something. These girl boxers want to be the best in the world at boxing.

If their girl boxer lost their match earlier in the day, they blame it on her failings, her inability to listen, her physical limitations. If their girl boxer won their boxing match today, they claim the win for themselves. The coaches of victorious fighters borrow their fighters’ glory like slipping into someone else’s luxurious dinner jacket.

Maybe that’s what the weird hat is all about. If there are aliens on other planets, Rachel Doricko’s grandmother feels sure that they can’t be any stranger than these girl boxers.

If the Daughters of America tournament bracket was flipped counterclockwise on its side, it would look like a family tree, and Andi Taylor, by way of marriage or blood, would be Kate Heffer’s sister.

Artemis Victor had watched Kate Heffer after Kate Heffer lost her first-round match. Kate had looked so wet and tattered. ◆ Artemis Victor has always and will always pride herself on being the highest and driest piece of land.

Praying in public is like draping oneself in a sheet. It is an activity that makes one absent. Inside absent activities it is possible to look more closely at one’s environment.

Girls are born with all of the eggs they will ever make. Tiny future fighters are nested inside the infant bodies of baby girls. Men are dead ends, but girls are infinite backwards and forwards.