After graduating from college
I moved back home to my parents' house in Fenton

It would be the first of three more separate stints

My brother helped get me a part-time job
Peddling paint at Sherwin-Williams

The idea was to stay for a year and save up
And plan for our wedding

All of our friends had already moved away
Or were still off at school

So it felt like a ghost town
Or defeat

I was not a model employee

I was frequently late and felt my education made me overqualified
And that the job was far beneath me

I reeked of youth! I thought the world was owed to me!

Each morning, contractors would pour in like vultures on carrion
And pick the store clean