Robert E. Lee's "Curtis and Deangelo" follows the title characters as they spend time gambling in Las Vegas. Deangelo loses his leather jacket, and as they try to find it, we learn a bit about their backstory together. Both their father's (which I believe are different people) are in different hospitals, and Deangelo's father was in an accident with the family of a character known as Bishop that caused his hospitalization.
The voice of Curtis is easily the best thing about this piece. Some of his one-liners like "Pulls on your chest hair like duck tape" and "What happened to your ass? That just looks like a whole in your back," really add humor and gives the reader perspective into who Curtis is as a person, making him rounder and more-unique than many characters. However, I feel that Deangelo's voice pales in comparison to his. In particular, it seems that Deangelo never really develops a full personality, and the little bit I understand about him seems muddled. I think that may be because I'm not exactly sure of his relationship to Curtis. Are they extended family, family friends, just friends, something else?
Another thing that never fully becomes clear is the back story of the two characters. I understand that there was a car accident, but I was confused as to who was hurt and killed in it. There is mention here of a character named Bishop, but his fate and his relationship to the other two is never fully-elaborated. I felt that I could fully grasp what went on in their past. I would expand this section to make it more interesting.
Another area that I felt needed more clarification was who was talking. Some tags could clear that up right away without any major changes.
There's also one major anachronistic problem in the piece. When we meet Deangelo, he has his leather jacket, but when he realizes he lost it, they haven't separated. The character that we later find out took it was also met by Deangelo before he made it to Curtis. This means that he's searching for a second leather jacket, which I don't think was intentional. Overall, I would say clarity is the major issue of the piece.
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