Blanche lost her husband Skinner to the war, once telling a perfect stranger while picking through carrots and celery in the produce aisle at the supermarket that her husband didn’t die in vain. “No, he did not, dear,” the older woman said, leaning in for a hug. “He lived in vain,” Blanche said. Then she […]
Twangy country song lyrics ricocheted off the hospital’s sixth-floor ceiling and bounced up and down the hall. “Tell me you don’t love me no more, darling. Make it hurt so I’ll remember you,” the patient sang at the top of his lungs. Head nurse Tammy Willows rushed to the single room and almost fainted when […]
Sliding the folded Scranton Times-Tribune newspaper across a small puddle of spilled beer, bartender and college dropout Mikey Hoyle began his lecture about foreign policy and international politics, topics on which he considered himself well-versed. “Look at this story about Afghan women marching in a pro-Taliban parade in Kabool.” Timmy Kelly shook open the wet […]
Even with the bar door closed you could hear the bass pounding from the car idling at the stop sign. Mikey Hoyle slammed down his beer glass and snapped his head toward the noise. “You hear that?” Timmy Kelly looked away from the Yankees game on TV. “What?” “That music.” “Oh, yeah, that.” “Taliban music.” […]
Undercover cop Brandon, whom Mike met at the American Legion, spoke confidently, the way you do when you usually get your own way with or without a warrant. Just making conversation Mike had casually mentioned how unpatriotic it is that Pizza Hut restaurants do business in Hanoi, Vietnam. “Germany’s one of our biggest trading partners,” […]
