We lock eyes at the supermarket exit: White kid; nineteen, maybe twenty; camo and boots in this heat.

I look for the AR-15 but all he carries is a box of Twinkies.

Someone yells, “Hey!” but the kid is fast, already on his moped. Gone, Twinkies crushed between his knees.

Susan Rukeyser loves America but has concerns. She wrote a novel, Not On Fire, Only Dying (Twisted Road Publications, 2015). Find more at her website, susanrukeyser.com.