In the first half of 1981, it was just a few who died.
Latent in Translation
She knew how to read a newspaper article when she was five; now she cannot tell Chinese from hieroglyphics.
A Ghost In The Hallway
At night he could hear her rustling the curtain. He would whisper his questions to her.
Anything that Shines
There’s an our kind and a their kind.
Multiple Deterrents
I know what Venita does. I'm not stupid. She doesn't know I know, the fragrances of her leaving and the taste of her returning.
Crab Girl
There are two honors for women here. One is that you marry well; your husband doesn’t beat you and will hold you close at night. Two: you become a crab girl in the crab factory.
Homecoming
I was just taking some time off, I told myself. From college. But more and more it felt like from life.
Trespassing
Whenever they drove past in the car on the way to the next town over, all he saw was a bare expanse of crumbling gray stones stretching out like a long-emptied riverbed behind the warped fencing with all its warnings.
To Be Generous
When Amy whispered in Russ’s ear that what he wanted her to do would cost him fifty bucks, she meant it to be sexy.
Perfume and Cigarettes
Mrs. Marion heard Ronnie’s car turn into the driveway, and then shortly afterward the top of its hood slid into view out the kitchen window, breaking her concentration. A sour rush of annoyance spurted into her face like a grease explosion.
