From rolled down car
windows, we hung our
sticky trays of chili dogs,
cheese fries, foaming root
beer in thick glass mugs.

Jen & I smoked Virginia Slims,
padded our tips, watched our boss
Dale cruise past with Nadine
Pacheco, our algebra teacher’s
ex. We failed & helped Dale

run the B & C into the ground.
Behind our backs, my brother
& his friends called it the Butt
& Cunt. Who knew or cared
who those letters stood for?

I blushed but loved
when Jen sang out the words
in cursive print on pink
tickets where we took
orders, Eat out! – It’s fun!

Hilary Sideris has recently published poems in The American Journal of Poetry, Bellevue Literary Review, Free State Review, Gravel, The Lake, Main Street Rag, Rhino, Salamander, and Southern Poetry Review. She is the author of Most Likely to Die (Poets Wear Prada 2014), The Inclination to Make Waves (Big Wonderful 2016), Un Amore Veloce (Kelsay 2019) and The Silent B (Dos Madres 2019).