He said, “I need a new mother,” and I nodded, because he obviously needed support and therapy, he didn’t know how to survive alone.… Continue Reading
A one-eared beagle with a bleeding wound waited on the porch wagging her tail; another pup a townie had been undoubtedly tossed out on the dirt road.… Continue Reading
I don’t want to throw up in front of Medusa again, but she outranks me. “Are you really gonna do this?” she asks like it’s the first time. But it’s not.… Continue Reading
While most people came to the sauna to unwind, Ivan came to dominate.… Continue Reading
Some bodies stayed on the ground for hours that kissed days as one death followed another in the city of hard justice. All was part of the deal that cops made with themselves known by undercover names such as community service and that which must be done.… Continue Reading
Twenty years later I watched a music video and saw a girl flop into the back seat of a car and her legs dangled out the door and the whole thing came back and repeated in my head over and over for hours like the return of a chronic infection, like a burning, corrosive rash.… Continue Reading
The next morning, the fancy flower is limp, petals dry, brown. It’s over. Loneliness grips Elwood, as if the vivid colors and fruity scent were a charming houseguest whose sudden departure shrunk his world.… Continue Reading
Grandpa’s truck just waved, small. Like she was letting go of something heavy. I cried. Didn’t plan to. Didn’t try not to. Got her home to my place and the project began. First, Heineken, and a Camel. Old man would be proud. Or wonder why it was only 9 a.m.… Continue Reading
He looked slightly like a serial killer—but not enough for Luisa to say no; and she sensed that, if it came down to it, she could do him more harm than he her.… Continue Reading
Henry swears he can use anything in Sharkey’s as a weapon. Every bottle and stool and pool cue. He’d pull the aluminum High Life girl from the wall, moon and all, and use her like a riot shield if The Wrong Motherfucker walked in.… Continue Reading