by Peter Craig
Kevin thought he could read Colette’s thoughts from the way she fluctuated on the gas pedal. She was hesitant through the mountains, uncertain through the empty trench of highway along Barstow; but once they hit the open stretch toward the dark horizon, she began to accelerate unknowingly, as if toward some distant lingering belief. He could tell by the determination on her face that she was still brave enough to expect something better on the other side of this road; and he knew for the first time, seeing the landscape and perceiving the vastness of what lay ahead, that he was finally tough enough and patient enough to find it. Kevin leaned back and savored the rolling pain in his chest, a souvenir, a burning trinket, a brand on his bones that he might feel forever, until it took on the certainty and comfort of a ritual. He sat up straight in the seat, dug the last crumpled bills out of the glove compartment, and said, “Get us to Vegas by sunrise, honey. And I’ll cover breakfast.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
For their help with the details, both large and small, the author wishes to thank Caroline Jourdes, Natalie Kaire, Keith Kerns, David Martinez, and Amadou Ouedraogo.
Thanks to my wonderful first readers—Amy Scattergood, Scott Berg, Dan Weiss, David Sartorius, Dean Bushala, Judith Weber, and my family.
And, finally, thanks to Nat Sobel and Peternelle van Arsdale, for their hard work, good ideas, and impeccable instincts.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Peter Craig, author of Hot Plastic and The Martini Shot, is a graduate of the Iowa Writers’ Workshop’ and a recipient of a James Michener-Copernicus Fellowship. Growing up, he divided his time between a show-business family in California and a commune in Oregon. He now lives in Los Angeles with his two daughters, where he is at work on his fourth novel.
COPYRIGHT
Copyright © 2004 Peter Craig
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EPub Edition © AUGUST 2010 ISBN: 978-1-401-39943-6
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Craig, Peter
Hot plastic / Peter Craig.—1st ed.
p. cm.
ISBN 0-7868-6825-2
1. Triangles (Interpersonal relations)—Fiction. 2. Swindlers and
swindling—Fiction. 3. Fathers and sons—Fiction. I. Title.
PS3553.R229H68 2004
813′.54—dc21
2003047887
FIRST EDITION
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1