"Sucker" by Carson McCullers (1963-First published in The Saturday Evening Post)

Carson McCullers

"she died of alcoholism
wrapped in a blanket
on a deck chair
on an ocean
steamer. 

all her books of
terrified loneliness 

all her books about
the cruelty
of loveless love 

were all that was left
of her 

as the strolling vacationer
discovered her body 

notified the captain 

and she was quickly dispatched
to somewhere else
on the ship 

as everything
continued just
as
she had written it."

Charles Bukowski

Carson McCullers (1917 to 1967 - Columbus, Georgia, USA) is an iconic Southern Gothic writer.  Her most famous book The Heart is a Lonely Hunter is an American classic.  (There is more information on her in my posts on this novel and her short story, "The Jockey").  Her stories are set in much thrbsame venue as those of another great southern Gothic writeralso  from Georgia, Flannery O'Connor.  McClure's people are isolates, misfits, those on the margins of society.  Her work often deals with the racial issues that dominated the American south for many decades.  

"Sucker", said to have been written when McCullers was seventeen but not published until much latter, is about the relationship of a sixteen year old boy and his twelve year old cousin who shares his bedroom.  The younger boy, called "sucker",  idolizes the older boy.  The older boy has developed an interest in girls and has his first crush.  The very real brilliance of this story is shown after the older boy berates Sucker terribly, telling him he hates having him around.  He says this in a moment of anger but it destroys the relationship.  McClure does a marvelous job showing us how this changed how both boys  see each other.  It can be seen as a story of the loss of innocence.  

If you search, you can find this story online.