Page 144

By Jack Joseph Smith

116 Arty déx is unhealthy, and the -beys won! t want te. get any cuts on. the -old ‘finger fingers to” mush. ink aroun for -thaté! Clean bande; clean hanié, wet hes yes t & il arays-eep—theirheit—in a nive.trisy’ I ime, Pho) 5 whea / j (Suk yopRs acdPiving fellew:gemm: de about. his rear views .if he- : dosen! t have-a-little shag te stredghten up for: the- iu 5 f pq me image of the-blonds: passing by Like -reuged’ balloons: ' - ii a-vacuum, I mean, ever a sixbignt sitting déwm male-to-male-for a manicure: cur feel! some: idenity without’ having to tell his storys I cam sees the “boys iin from Tusem wanting it,' 17 mea anyene would ‘feel guilty déjng tine: payments: om hig Datedt, without. paying at: least: three: hum . dred: bucks: armonrtii. veut’ "What about: the: acid® Aniimr?" "God! 4. mind ieseweet, but, the world: is: his: athlete! & roots Fupig tosh _ Prankster: madé-His -teeth wide, ,and“ them choked, Hev ' \s @ v didn't'.déubble-up; just ehekeds , @ ~ "T mean for Ciriet! §-sake: Prankster, .ever without. er \? +s acnpse9 atl as see>the stink, And even when you Q x touch tonqued, you can feck her: ito" , Prankster: thought for a moment, about tiie: own itels, wot ag SEX l ESS le nen mamasboentaaty ene oF He was:sayihg goodby agaim im hisomind to: hie: little: ’ a: < som outside axflat om the -Ciienge streets, Them,. lie didi not.drink, dia‘ not. smokey or-d?ep, Ani’ he: didn!’ t. know what sheeting wasy , exoopt. sometines: om a midnight

Original Scan

Page 144

AI Interpretation

GPT

The page mixes grooming fantasy, drugs, and family loss, so that masculine styling and private grief appear as different masks over the same hunger.

The voice keeps swerving from storefront comic talk into memory of the son and the self left behind. That instability is the point: image, intoxication, and tenderness all compete for the same damaged center.


Claude

Grooming fantasy, drugs, and family loss braid together so that masculine styling and private grief share a single voice. The page continues the manuscript's refusal to separate vanity from mourning.