Brooklyn, 2002. The air smelled like radiator steam and pan-fried American failure. The July sun bleached every brick of Crown Heights into the color of singed flesh, and the sidewalks pulsated and vibrated, as if some bastard angel beneath the… Continue Reading
Murph said it without thinking. “I don’t miss him.” The oven clicked. The coil glowed red. Heat filled the room, and she stood still in the center of the kitchen, a cold casserole dish in one hand and a dishrag… Continue Reading
Aunt Maisy used to give Luna and I lemon-flavored cough drops and tell us they were real candy, and the summer I was four and Luna was six we took the bag of cough drops off Maisy’s shelf and ate… Continue Reading
You might think it’s weird to give your violin a name, but not me. I mean, when you get right down to it, how is it any different than naming a doll or a stuffed animal? The important thing is… Continue Reading
Paul hadn’t expected the end to feel like this; the absence of pain was unexpected. More than anything, a hollowing out. The edges of things had dulled, the distance gained softened, the body delicately seeping back from its source. Still… Continue Reading
He still cooked like someone might show up. Gage plated the chili even though he was already full. He spooned it into one of his regular bowls, the ones with faint red stains from spaghetti and a chip near the… Continue Reading
When you pick your brother up from the rehab center, he will not look like he did when you saw him last at your cousin’s birthday party, when you didn’t know he had white powder in his zipped-up cargo short… Continue Reading
I was lucky to get a seat at a little table by the window in a small cafe on West 49th Street. Outside the rain was relentless. Streets were flooded and people on the sidewalk were moving quickly while trying… Continue Reading
The phantom weight of the ring was the hardest part. Yuki would rub the pale, naked band of skin on her left finger until she made herself red and raw, a habit she couldn’t break. Ken had been gentle when… Continue Reading
Lakeside Elementary is on the edge of our neighborhood, right by the Piggly Wiggly. It isn’t anywhere near a lake, thankfully. There is only one natural lake in Texas. Halfway in Texas, really, and honestly, it’s only still there because… Continue Reading