My father walks into the convenience store
and comes back with a 12-can case of beer.
This is my father, the "ex"-alcoholic,
and my sister is the only one brave enough
to ask him what he thinks he's doing.

"What's wrong with beer?" he asks.
"Hangovers," my sister answers.

"You know what happened, Daddy,"
our smallest sister says, "last time."

"Don't believe everything you see on television.
Hey, is beer bad?" he asks me.

"It depends on how much you drink," I answer;
what I don't add is
and it depends on who you are.

Because that creates another unknown
represented by y,
an equation with two variables,
and no one in this car is good at math.