Ghost Story
That same year when I was a junior in Mrs. Watson’s eleventh grade American literature class, Mr. Lenore, the sixth period senior government teacher at Carlton P. Pierce Senior High School, got shy Karly Tan pregnant, and the news was all over our school in two weeks, even though she was to graduate from that school with honors in five months. Even though Karly wouldn’t lift her eyes to say boo, talked through a curtain of long, black hair, folks said girls like that get what they deserve, messing around with old men — twenty-five years older than she and married. Didn’t she know...
Read MoreIdol
The fuse was lit at tryouts, though I didn’t realize it then. Two thousand hopefuls turned out! Two thousand, on our tiny island, and energy sparked from every one. Even government officials were in a holiday mood, their faces wreathed in smiles. Preliminary cuts occurred with Singapore’s usual, remarkable efficiency. That afternoon we lucky chosen ones performed in the jam-packed Singapore Arena. Each voice had to sing out bravely, and alone. I crooned “Every Step You Take” to the accompaniment of my guitar only, and heard in the gasp...
Read MoreAmaya
With one hand Amaya massaged her protruding belly and with the other raised the cup of green tea to her lips. Only two more months and the baby would thankfully arrive. It wasn’t that she minded being pregnant with her and Kevin’s first child. She liked the experience despite the way it made her look when she gazed in the mirror in their small apartment at the University of Illinois. What looked back was a slight, twenty-two year old woman, just over five feet tall with a stomach that she thought made her look like a beached seal. Kevin was always so kind whenever he saw her looking at...
Read MoreNovember Chill
The elevator doors opened and Mikaela stepped out into the dim light of the twelfth floor lobby. An old metal desk blocked the doorway between the small lobby and the hallway leading to her room with only a mere two-foot gap of walkway between. “Name?” The old woman behind the desk thrust out an open palm for the key Mikaela held in her right hand. “Mikaela Reynolds.” Mikaela handed over the key and stood quietly. Without looking up, the hall monitor scratched writing onto the form in front of her. “1204.” The old lady jerked her head to the left, a...
Read MoreTo Hell in a Handbasket
In Exodus 20:8 of the King James Bible, God commands, “Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.” My mother, in her continuous quest to commune with the Almighty, made sure that not a single Sabbath day passed that she and her three little daughters were not in Sunday School at Liberty Baptist Church, and the expletives she spouted while trying to get us there reinforced just how holy the day was. “Holy mother of God, you three are going to be the death of me.” “Holy shit, I’ve got a run in my pantyhose!” “Holy hell, we’re going to be late!” she...
Read MoreAll Suffering Soon to End
My boss called in the early afternoon while I was still in bed. I’d been working with a hotel housekeeping staff, cleaning guest rooms and getting paid under the table because I couldn’t be hired anywhere that required a background check. “What do you want?” I groaned. “Can you tell me — after the horrible morning I just had — why you didn’t show up for work?” “I didn’t feel like it,” I said miserably. “You didn’t feel like it?” “I guess not.” “You can go to hell,” she said before she hung up. I rolled out of bed, stepping carefully around the garbage...
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