Cold words blew in one ear and out the other, benumbing Kim’s brain like a forgotten bag of peas stuck in the ice at the back of the freezer. “I’m Becky,” the voice said. “We need to relax, Kim,” the voice said. “I’ll meet you at RayRay’s Elbow Room for Happy Hour.” Sure enough, Becky […]
At 63 the pale skin on Ronnie Kohr’s face looked like construction putty. Full cheeks felt like a doughy version of a wax museum dummy. Without the money to fly to Mexico for a full-scale face transplant, the professional Elvis impersonator knew he was finished. Laid off from the pest control company after working off […]
Punching in his favorite song on the jukebox whenever he spotted the tune among the musical selections at the Pirate Lounge, Denis always sang along, sometimes as loud as he could. Drawing laughs depending on the crowd, usually tourists digging everything about their Florida beach experience, the song helped set a vacation mood. One time […]
“I’m getting bad as the president,” Justin said. Lisa looked up from the sink where she struggled to scrub barbecue shredded pork grease from the supper dishes. “Germs,” Justin said. “I’m worried about germs like Trump.” “Yeah, Trump’s a germ all right,” Lisa said. “No I mean the president’s a germaphobe. So’s Biden from what […]
“Here’s more bottles, mama,” Kateryna said. Svitlana reached for three empties her daughter held out. Marveling at his family over a flickering blue flame that lit his last cigarette, Andriy crumpled and stuffed the pack in his down jacket pocket. Exhaling white smoke through his nose he spoke to Kateryna in a voice as low […]
