Weekend Sickness

by Laura Eppinger

The barista job pays
five dollars too much for me to qualify
for welfare or food pantries.

After rent
and that devastating monthly
student loan payment, my
budget every week is just enough
for five bowls of cereal, five
brown bag lunches, and about four
dinners.

I keep myself fueled
for the job, spend
most weekends in bed. I can’t afford
to do much else.

There’s nothing left for groceries
so a beer with a coworker is out
of the question. They ask, at first,
then once or twice again. Sometimes I even
agree, before telling them on Friday
I feel sick.

Once they realize I’m sick every weekend,
the invitations stop coming.