The Best Thing

by Mariana Zapata

“Grandpa Gus is gonna go kill somebody. You wanna come with me? You wanna help bury your daddy?”

I was not going to waste my life being pissed off at someone. I had better shit to do. People didn’t give enough credit to what not giving a fuck could do for you. It was freedom.

“What a gift you’ve given me, Lenny.”

“You’ve got the sweetest face, even when you’re throwing out every insult in the English language.”

I’d swear he had been made to ring every single one of my bells.

Sorry you realized too late that I’m pretty fucking awesome and that I have no gag reflex.

“Some people are lucky to find one person in the world to love. Some people are even luckier to find more than one person to love and be loved back. Some don’t find anyone. If you find someone, you don’t let them run away. We love them the way we need to love them. The way they need to be loved. And we don’t give up on that. We don’t throw that kind of thing away or push it to a better time, because there is no better time. If you love that kid the way you say you do, you don’t give that up. You fight for it, you stick with it, and you go for it. You keep it.”