At the Sunday night AA Meeting in Plummer Park
they celebrate sobriety birthdays with a single, large fake cake. A little grubby but still trusty, tasty-looking. Only in LA, I mutter to the eye candy sitting next to me. My knee’s almost touching his muscled lower thigh (yes, short shorts in winter). At least a dozen standing in line to make Oscar-length speeches. None pretend to eat the cake. Once it’s over, I walk Santa Monica Boulevard, that street of sin, expecting hordes of drinkers, but no—the sidewalks are plague-quiet, cars heading elsewhere. I enter Fatburger. Jerky teens huddle around tables, plushies clinging to their backpacks. I send a photo of my Oreo milkshake and chocolate chip cookie to my husband back at the Universal Sheraton, so he knows what’s keeping me, so he doesn’t fear the worst.
Audio: Xander Beattie reads “At the Sunday night AA Meeting in Plummer Park”
Born in Cape Town (South Africa) in 1988, Xander Beattie is a journalist-turned-novelist, poet and artist publisher currently based in Northern California where he lives with his husband, two cats and hundreds of books in a remote cabin. His first book, The President (PRONK, 2025), is a queer political thriller set in his homeland and was hailed by Publishers Weekly as an "engrossing debut.” Xander is currently at work on a poetry chapbook, his next novel, and making zines under the imprint Dik-Dik Editions. He shares musings on books, swimming and more at a swimming pool library.
