17, already?

Events Occurring in a Car

I lean the bucket seat back
so you can climb on top of me
you groan as if it hurts you
I’m so wet I soak through my jeans

my father puts his hand between my thighs
I push it away    he puts it back and
laughs   my mother hisses from
the back seat

you aren’t paying attention to me so I 
swerve a little more on the steep bend outside
the ranch   the car flips end over end
down the hillside     you aren’t wearing
a seatbelt but you brace yourself
with your fists on the ceiling

I turn to wave at you as I cross the 
intersection and see you going the opposite
direction    you ignore me and I crash into
a parked car

I am driving my brother to swim practice
I tell him to stay in the back seat he tries
to crawl into the front   I jam on the brakes
he slams forward and breaks off the review
mirror with his forehead     I tell him he is an
idiot

my mother is driving me home after school
she tells me I must attend an awards
ceremony to get my award     I say I’m 
embarrassed and I don’t want it     she stops
the car and throws me out

I am in the backseat     my father is driving
down a winding road   slope on one side
cliff and sea on the other    I can’t breathe
everybody is watching me  I scream  slow 
down slow down    my father tells me it is 
alright and keeps on    my brother holds my hand  
I pull away to clutch the door