He was cranky because he couldn’t do shit, and he was never one to smile much. He was good at killing men, hated killing time. Where he took pleasure was walking down the sidewalk knowing people he’d never met thought he was a mean old man. Hell, he’d been a mean young one, no reason to change now.… Continue Reading
Deron’s studied to be a used car dealer. Not just any shyster, though. He’s made it his life’s goal to obtain the Ultimate Customer Satisfaction rating by J.D. Power. Someone emits a bubbly fart. The flatulence lingers and the two men sniff, then cough. They’ve known each other long enough and the stakes are too high.… Continue Reading
That morning, we all nodded and chuckled, smug in our assessment that the pilot of that first airplane screwed up. Tragic, but not much different than a navigational error that ran a ship aground. It was unfortunate, certainly, as lives were undoubtedly lost. But heads would roll, and we’d move on.… Continue Reading
Numbers and names littered the backside of the shade, the only log of the burials in existence. It seemed to cast a shadow that swallowed the light and sucked the air from the room, making it hard to breathe. He located Grace Atkinson’s mother’s gravesite in the exact spot where the bucket truck was parked, the shovel set to gouge the earth and deposit the remains in a hill of dust and bones.… Continue Reading
One night a year in early July, the men and boys in swimsuits squat at the pool’s ledge to await two lifeguards’ whistles. The chlorine is all they smell, the burbling water is all they hear and—blindfolded—they see only black.… Continue Reading
The father preferred to talk about nature, about ideas, but neither of his kids were old enough for that now, so he found himself talking about overdoses.… Continue Reading
George is anti-gun. He’s anti-faith, despite once brimming with it. He once put his hand on my shoulder and said, I’m just glad that you and I aren’t toxic males. I laughed and said, Speak for yourself, and things have been off between us since.… Continue Reading
Jimmy was not a person I would have considered having sex with. We had a symbiotic relationship in which all parties benefited except everyone else in the class. I can only imagine how cringy it was to witness, but in a room full of mirrors, it’s easy to trust no one else is looking at you.… Continue Reading
I’ve always wanted to have ancestors who would tell me what to do. A rough Irishman with a leathery face. A stout German with a simple, but unshakable worldview. But I only had a father, and he was mostly absent, and he died when I was a teenager. And so I read about Winston Churchill.… Continue Reading
Maybe Uncle Kev saw himself in the prophets. Or as one of them. A middle-aged bachelor, former heavyweight boxer, dabbling in spirituality, painting his nails, sewing dresses. Transitioning. Maybe he was broken, too.… Continue Reading