Response to Molly Kirkpatrick's "Chase"

Molly Kirkpatrick’s “Chase” is about Caroline and her relationship with her ex-boyfriend Chase. Their relationship is in flux because they both have contracted herpes. They meet in the Burger Lounge to talk over things, and once there, Caroline remembers little things about their relationship and between her memories and her conversation with Chase, she realizes that Chase really did, and possibly still does, love her.

My favorite part of this piece is definitely the humor. Obviously, sexually transmitted diseases and how they affect relationships and lives is a very heavy topic and could approached in a very serious, humorless way. However, the infusion of humor in the narration helps the reader push through a feelings of discomfort about the topic and actually read the story for what it is: a story about a relationship and what love is. The story had me laughing from the very first page, really from the second sentence. That humor continued through the entire story, which kept me reading even if I did become uncomfortable at times; the humor made the narrator sympathetic – I liked her and wanted to know how her story ended Probably my favorite line from “Chase” is when Caroline is talking to Felicia and Isobell about Chase. The sister say something to each other, and the description of their reaction is: “The sisters turned and gave each other the ‘aww’ eyes, giggling like a couple of Teletubbies.” I was funny enough that it elicited a laugh, but at the same time, I was able to see and hear exactly how they had reacted.

I really don’t have that many suggestions for improvement – overall, I thought that just about everything was working. That being said, I do have a few questions. Who broke up with whom? Did Caroline break up with Chase, or vice versa? Why did they break up? I mean, getting an STD is not the greatest thing in the world, but would that warrant them breaking up with each other? Maybe Caroline was mad at Chase for giving it to her, and that’s what caused the breakup? Also, I kind of want to know where Chase got herpes from in the first place. The characterization portrayed him as a “playa,” but where did he contract the disease? Also, did he know that he had it before he passed it on to Caroline? I thinking backstory that answers these stories would help flesh out the relationship between Caroline and Chase.