Total Refusal

Johan Rundberg

When we’re putting our shoes on, Crick’s dad comes out in the hallway with an overloaded garbage bag in hand.
“Take the trash out when you leave, please,” he says.
“There are diapers inside, so you can’t just put it in the stairway.”
The bag hits the floor with a heavy, wet thud.
“Let’s throw it off the freeway bridge,” I whisper a bit too loudly. “Imagine that thing bursting on the screen of a Tesla.”
Crick’s dad stops.
”What did you say?” he asks.
“That it’s important to recycle,” I say gravely. “The environment is our shared responsibility.”

Leo, short for Leonore, and her family is in crisis. One that no one wants to talk about, including Leo. Her beloved grandmother, the punk icon Jackie, refuses to admit her increasingly obvious dementia. When best friend and bandmate Crick gets a spot for music camp, Leo feels abandoned. What is she going to do all summer, except try to avoid the terrible job her dad has gotten her? An unexpected turn of events leads Leo to join the punk band BOLT SHEARS, with some older girls. But what is the point of it all when your punk grandmother is unwell?

A story about Alzheimers, punk, friendship, and what to do when your brain never wants to go to sleep.