Hunger
Amber had a birthday party when she turned thirteen. Her parents parked their cars on the street so she could have the party in the family’s cluttered garage. Beach chairs were arranged in a circle around a big plastic cooler. The ice was on top and the Pepsi was on the bottom. Amber opened the cooler and told everyone at… Read more →
After the Dance
My freshman homecoming date rumbles away in his dad’s Ford pickup with his older brother—dressed in a clown suit—at the wheel. I huff the sweet exhaust and watch their red taillights burn out of sight. I take it slow up the front steps to the house, wondering how I’ll make it past Mom without her seeing that my dress is… Read more →
Nova
He was going to see his girl, he said, and you piled into the rust-orange beast with the flathead key and stripped column. He was short, five-five standing on a brick, and could barely reach the pedals. His baby was inside her, he said, and she was with someone else. But it started with a bar, the flipped switch of… Read more →
That One Time He Wore the Jersey
Wanda purchased the maroon football jersey at half-price due to a defect in the shoulder seam. Marvin allowed the shirt to linger in the dresser for three months before wearing it to the vaguely-Methodist barbeque where his wife would be inclined to hide her generalized anger. “What a terrific shirt!” the church Treasurer announced. And slapped Marvin’s shoulder in that… Read more →
The Sleeper
Teaching can be a thankless job. I have done it for thirty years and sometimes it feels like it’s getting more thankless all the time. I teach freshman comp at a local college. Last semester was one of the worst. A student who wrote one paper out of five and missed the last month and a half of class claimed… Read more →
Pinball
My damp legs make a gross thwapping noise every time I peel one from the chair, but the ripped vinyl itches too much for me to keep still. The windowless American Legion kitchen where Mom works nights as a short-order cook is blazing hot. “Indian Summer” my teacher called it. Mom is in a mood on account of the thick… Read more →
Ideation
Marie was collecting the paper wrappers from disposable chopsticks, telling everyone that you could turn them in for a wheelchair. “I don’t get it,” my wife Lena said, as she handed hers over. “How does this add up to the value of a wheelchair?” “An electric wheelchair,” Marie said. “They said these chopstick things are like cash.” By then I… Read more →