Bugs on the Windshield

Shelly Rhymes was a hard woman. In her 42 years of life, she'd lived a lifetime of hell. Raped at fourteen; forced to have an abortion because she couldn't bear the thought of giving birth to her own cousin, she ran away at fifteen, living on the streets. Jack Daniels was his real name; given, courtesy of her favorite drink, by his drunken mother. He didn't give much thought to a mother dead long ago, like the bugs on his windshield. Sometimes, in the lonely hours before dawn, he thought of her and his life. He owed much of what he was to that drunk.