“This is how you get murdered,” I said to myself while executing a twelve-point turn in the backwoods of Arkansas at approximately midnight. A long series of county roads, numbered, not named, led me up and then down the Ozark hills for the better part of an hour until I arrived at the last house … Continue reading The Fringe 2016: Chapter 1
My mother’s will was read on a Saturday morning during one of the largest snowstorms ever recorded in Lansing. Snowdrifts piled against houses and parked cars as if the break of a perfect wave had frozen, decayed, and reconstituted itself into an endless white ocean. I pulled over at the corners of Kalamazoo and … Continue reading The Will
Alexis was young, well, younger than I was at least. She was nineteen, and I was twenty-two. It wasn’t that much of a gap, but back home at least I could drink, and she couldn’t. Except, Alexis was from Windsor, Canada, somewhere near Detroit she’d said, so maybe she could drink. But at least I’d … Continue reading THE DHOW
It’s never easy, or necessarily right, to tell someone you love that they’re acting like a cunt. It’s a bit abrasive I suppose, and, yes, that might be an understatement. But hey sometimes, for lack of better options, you just have to go all the way with it. Skip the, “Hey, could you not do … Continue reading When It All Went To Hell
It was time for Colombus Elementary’s third annual teacher meeting since La Familia had taken over. Five teachers sat in the break room. The school bell rang. Ted, the rotund, silver-haired prinicpal wearing a grey Armani suit that had recently been pressed, sat at the head of the table. He fanned himself with … Continue reading The Meeting
Since we’d left the bonfire, we’d been watching the Puerto Rican men race their horses on the strip of road next to the parking lot. Luna, Taryn, Brian, and I had come to the car for the rum, and when we’d arrived Brian decided to roll a joint. The keg sat in a small hand-dug … Continue reading Broken Horses
The last three years I had hosted at Le Phoque, Paulo Embretti’s newest endeavor. I absolutely loved that job. It had been everything. More than a paycheck or social circle, I had a tiny piece of real estate in The City – a booth at striking restaurant. A moderate space filled with handcrafted tables and … Continue reading Tetra
The blue house with white trim had what most would consider the perfect front porch. The porch itself was atop a four-step walkup, set back about twenty feet from the sidewalk. When staring out into the neighborhood, the steps landed on the far-left side of the porch, and the porch extended to the right seventeen … Continue reading The Jade
“Fucking Simón… late again,” Drew said, looking at his watch. A ticket started to print, errr, errr, errr – burger, mid-rare, side of fries. Drew read the time-stamp on the ticket, “Eleven-oh-two. That fucker.” The restaurant opened at 11:00am. Drew was always pissed at the first ticket of the day, regardless of when it came … Continue reading Cocineros
Back before I was Detective, it was Officer Canela. That was about twenty years ago. And, no, if you’re asking, they haven’t flown by. I feel every bit older. The kids are all grown up, Eddie and Teresa. My wife, Nancy, she’s older. Nancy looks good though, you know? She’s kept it together, still hits … Continue reading RANK
Feed the good wolf... 