They drank to the good times, and then drank the good times away. It wasn’t two years in until she stabbed him in the gut in the middle of the night after catching him messaging multiple other girls on his burner phone.… more
They drank to the good times, and then drank the good times away. It wasn’t two years in until she stabbed him in the gut in the middle of the night after catching him messaging multiple other girls on his burner phone.… more
Monday night, judo class. Ishaan is on top of me, struggling with his grip. Though sensei Frank just demonstrated the choke for us, slowly, thoroughly, Ishaan’s already forgotten the hand work. His thin fingers grasp and re-grasp on my lapels, his knuckles grazing my face.… more
She could have stopped having a drink if she cared. If anyone cared. But she didn’t see much point in caring and neither did anyone else. When Attica was young, she wondered why it seemed as though nobody cared if she was around. Then she didn’t much care about being around.… more
Men like James don’t know softness, don’t know a whole lot other than work. They still look for God, though. Even after hours on the floor at Honda, they crawl towards church fronts, hungry and tired and missing their wives and brothers and sisters and cousins and mothers. The gods they know during the day are not gentle like the one they are here looking for. … more
Sisyphus waits for his cowboy boyfriend to call and tell him he’s fucked up, he’s real sorry, he’s on his way. He didn’t mean to send Sisyphus away again, he won’t do it again. Sisyphus is always waiting for the phone to ring, but he always has to be the one to call. Sisyphus always calls.… more
Mom said the Lord blessed me with a gift that would make people who loved me happy and people who mistreated me dead. … more
I told him the luckiest, bravest kids get dragon teeth instead of normal, adult teeth. I told him that dragons have big hearts like his, that need extra protecting. That’s why their teeth are sharper and stronger and longer than human teeth. Usually, a dragon about his age just needs to show his new teeth, and the threat will run away terrified. But if that doesn’t work, you need to bite. You need to bite down hard.… more
If the Grabber existed, you’d hear its strange sounds created by those slight movements and the thoughts you’d think would be enough to reassure you that it was not the Grabber. It was a creaky swing set. That’s what. Not even a dying animal. A swing set. And there was never any reason for fear or the instinct that compels a human’s flight from danger, to be allowed its running wild.… more
Where was this promised land? One melted doll in the high desert sun. Mother was old when she died. But she rose again and became a laughing, walking, talking living doll, even loving like a sweet sixteen in one of the allies. Here he was with his friend, Omar, to buy another doll. That would’ve been pleasing if he could, yet he could not choose one.… more
True or false: Dan still doesn’t hate her? 1. He has papered his walls with abstract prints of multi-coloured koi? True. 2. Like most adults, he talks a lot about not feeling sufficiently caffeinated and how things were in his day? False. 3. As a child, he told his case worker that every rented family felt the same. He meant it too? True. … more