Gorge, a novel in progress by Michael Gullo (2026)
“Why’s all the traffic going that way?”
“Tourists.”
“Like coming into town?”
“Out. Yesterday’s Easter, and they’re heading back to the hustle bustle.”
“Little do they know.”
“They must have got gas somewhere – they probably know.”
“I didn’t know you were this close to the park.”
“We’re not – not really. Chapman Highway’s kind of a back way out.”
“That’s a lot of cars.”
“Look at the plates. All out of state, or at least out of county.”
“I mean, a line of cars on a double highway, and I can’t even take a right.”
“There’s fourteen-million visitors a year.”
“I challenge that. We went to Yosemite last summer, and they said their count was around four million.”
“Great Smokies National Park is by far the most visited park in the whole system.”
“So you live in the most visited tourist spot in the country?”
“Park system. I mean, Times Square has to be in the fifty million range.”
“No clue. Finally.”
“I agree. That was a little much.”
“Where to?”
“Just keep going this way.”
“How’s this possible? Thirty minutes ago we were the only cars on the whole road, and now it’s gridlock.”
“It gets like this. Probably check-out time or something.”
“We were the only people in the restaurant. Don’t these people stop for food?”
“I told you. This is just a pass-through. We’re like thirty minutes from the park and the amusement area and stuff.”
“So, they probably ate before they left.”
“This is nuts.”
“Look at that car.”
“Narrow the choices.”
“The beater.”
“They’re on vacation.”
“I don’t know. I just didn’t imagine a car like that coming down from Ohio.”
“Everyone needs a break.”
“What’s down this way?”
“First it’s the grocery stores. Then a Home Depot, Lowes, Walmart size commercial district.”
“Do you need anything at Home Depot while it’s still there?”
“You know, I do need a disk grinder, but Bosch. My stuff’s all Bosch. Lowes. Go to Lowes.”
“Where’s it at?”
“A couple miles.”
“Is that all you need?”
“I mean, it really is. And I don’t think I even need that.”
“Me neither. I might get a couple Diesel cans to fill up and put on the roof, but other than that, I don’t need a thing.”
“Diesel cans and a disk grinder. Okay.”
“Maybe.”
“Maybe what?”
“You’ll think I’m nuts.”
“Too late.”
“Why are you pulling into Kroger?”
“Because we don’t need anything.”
“Will you make sense, please James.”
“Okay. Hear me out. We have everything we need, but the same can’t be said for everyone else.”
“And?”
“Let’s do something good.”
“Like what?”
“Hear me out.”
“You want to go in there and buy people groceries, don’t you?”
“Yup.”
“We’ll get killed.”
“No. Here’s the plan. We go in there. We fill up two carts, and we take them to the register. We pay cash for them, and we tell the cashier to give them away to any family or whatever that comes through and doesn’t have cash.”
“That’s crazy.”
“No. Look. It’s just like I imagined. Sign on the door says, cash only. And look. That lady is walking out with nothing. And that guy on the other side too.”
“So we just assign carts full of food to people?”
“Okay, okay… We stand around the door…. When a family walks up and sees the sign, we give them cash.”
“Okay, that’s a little better. We’ll get robbed though.”
“Okay. So we leave most of the money in the truck, and we reload after every one or two.”
“I’m onboard, Brother, and I like it. But we gotta be real careful.”
“You’re armed.”
“Yeah, but the last thing I want to do is shoot someone, and really, everyone here is armed.”
“Okay, so how much per like family or whatever?”
“Well, imagine being in that store with a cart full of food, running down the aisles, and your cart is more full than anyone else’s. We’ll get them robbed.”
“Okay, so like a hundred bucks a kid.”
“More than that. A hundred bucks doesn’t cover a couple days.”
“Okay. Two hundred per kid?”
“Who’d bring a kid to this?”
“Her. Look at her. Three kids under five years old.”
“Oh, oh, go, go. That’s her. She turned around.”
“I can’t just run up on. Hey, get back here.”
“Come on.”
“Michael.”
“I’m doing this.”
“You’ll…”
“Lady. No, no. Don’t be scared. Look at my hands. Here. We saw you turn around at the cash sign. Take this money. Go get groceries. Take it. Okay, I’m leaving it right here. Take it. I’m leaving. See?”
“That could have gone better.”
“Maybe. Did she take it?”
“How much did you give her?”
“Hush. Is she going in?”
“She took it.”
“There’s a couple guys looking.”
“Get in the truck.”
“Get in. Get in.”
“He’s coming over here.”
“He’s old.”
“He’s showing his hands like.”
“Roll down the window.”
“I don’t want to approach your truck and scare you. I’ve been trying to do that all morning.”
“Man, that was terrifying!”
“Exactly. I tried a lady back a bit, and she about shit her socks.”
“I’m James.”
“Hiya, James. I’m John.”
“This is Michael.”
“Y’all ain’t from ‘round here are you?”
“I live on Dripping Springs.”
“We’re on Dupont. You must go to Dupont.”
“Stefanie does.”
“We go to Dripping Springs. You should come check us out.”
“Thank you for the invitation.”
“Ever one’s welcome.”
“That’s been my experience, John.”
“There’s another one. Your turn, John.”
“This one ain’t been here long, has he, Michael?”
“Just visiting, but this whole thing was his idea.”
“Let’s see if I can get er done.”
“Good luck.”
“Oh, she’s listening.”
“I mean, she has four kids. She probably would have asked him if he didn’t approach her.”
“It’s the Vols shirt.”
“Do they sell those inside?”
“It wouldn’t help you.”
“That other guy’s looking again.”
“Let’s go say hi.”
“You first. Apparently, I look funny.”
“It’s the gold bracelet, buddy. And mess up your hair a little. You look like an East European hair gel commercial.”
“Hey – I don’t want to approach you, but you’re watching us.”
“I got three kids in the car, and they ain’t take no cards. I tried a write a check, n they say them ain’t no good neither.”
“Listen, I left my money in the truck.”
“I got it. Here, man. Get the boys out and you and your wife go fill up before they run out.”
“Man, buddy. In that track suit. I’s sure you’s gonna…”
“Go ahead, buddy before they run out.”
“They ain’t run out. They’s a truck in back, n most folks ain’t got cash.”
“Well, head that way. And thank you.”
“Thank me? Mister, you the one just give me money.”
“Giving is way better. Thank you.”
“Well, yer welcome, mister.”
“He’s right, you know. Most people aren’t even trying. They read the sign on the door, and they just keep driving.”
“John’s coming back.”
“How much you give him?”
“I think it was four hundred. I couldn’t tell. I counted it out inside my pocket.”
“How’d you make out, John?”
“That was a little better than the first n.”
“We saw this guy watching us, and I went to calm him, and it turns out he’s a dad. Three kids and the wife in the truck.”
“I see it, but men are risky.”
“Son, in my experience, women can be far more conniving.”