It's raining. I'm standing outside, just because I feel like it. There are quite a few of us out here--not as a group, but as individuals and pairs--along the diner's window. A strong, steady wind blows the rain across the sidewalk.
Spig and Little Mike are next to me, in the corner. It's rare to find both of them out of rehab at the same time.
LITTLE: Man, I don't know about you, man.
SPIG: What?
LITTLE: What's your address?
SPIG: Why?
LITTLE: I know what it is.
SPIG: So what?
LITTLE: So, I saw at your house, man, you had a upside-down "B" instead of a eight. (Long pause.) See what I'm saying?
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Friday, May 15, 2009
WORD #5
"The little hearts you painted on everything
Remained, like the track of your panic.
The splashes of a wound.
The spoor
Of the one that caught and devoured you."
--Ted Hughes, TOTEM
Remained, like the track of your panic.
The splashes of a wound.
The spoor
Of the one that caught and devoured you."
--Ted Hughes, TOTEM
OPEN
I'm sitting in a booth by the window. Most of the lunch-hour crowd is gone. Only a few of us remain, scattered through the diner. I hear Ev talking to someone in the booth right behind me.
EV: Not much going for him...But then, hey, look at me. I'm no prize either and I know it...Joey's nice, I guess. He's always been nice to me...And quiet. I like that. He doesn't say much, but whenever he does say something, he makes me laugh...So why not...I don't have anybody else. Anyone but you...You know what I mean...That's different. We're best friends. Friends are great. Especially best friends, like you. But they're not lovers...
There's something about the conversation that bothers me. I get up, head for the counter.
EV (cont.): I'm talking about growing to love somebody...Somebody nice...Someone who can get me out of here...
At the counter, I turn right, walk toward the hallway to the kitchen. I look back. Ev is dressed like she's going to church. She's still talking. And there's nobody across from her.
EV: Not much going for him...But then, hey, look at me. I'm no prize either and I know it...Joey's nice, I guess. He's always been nice to me...And quiet. I like that. He doesn't say much, but whenever he does say something, he makes me laugh...So why not...I don't have anybody else. Anyone but you...You know what I mean...That's different. We're best friends. Friends are great. Especially best friends, like you. But they're not lovers...
There's something about the conversation that bothers me. I get up, head for the counter.
EV (cont.): I'm talking about growing to love somebody...Somebody nice...Someone who can get me out of here...
At the counter, I turn right, walk toward the hallway to the kitchen. I look back. Ev is dressed like she's going to church. She's still talking. And there's nobody across from her.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
GONE
Wellesport Daily Record
April 29, 2009
OBITUARY
Edward Allen Brown, a lifelong resident of Wellesport, died April 27, 2009, at home surrounded by family and friends. He was 38.
Edward Brown was born August 4, 1970 at Lawrence and Memorial Hospital in New London, the son of late William and Margaret Brown. He was the eldest of two siblings.
Brown graduated in 1989 from Robert E. Fitch Senior High School in Groton. He married Ann Marie Pruitt on June 1, 2007.
He was preceded in death by his parents, William and Margaret Brown, also of Wellesport, and his younger brother, John.
He is surived by his wife, Ann Marie Brown, and son, Michael Allen.
Funeral Arrangements were entrusted to Leitner's Funeral Home. Visitation will be held on Thursday and Friday, April 30 and May 1, from 5-7 p.m. A mass will be celebrated at St. Michael's on Saturday, May 2, at 9:30 a.m. Interment will follow at Grace Memorial Cemetery.
April 29, 2009
OBITUARY
Edward Allen Brown, a lifelong resident of Wellesport, died April 27, 2009, at home surrounded by family and friends. He was 38.
Edward Brown was born August 4, 1970 at Lawrence and Memorial Hospital in New London, the son of late William and Margaret Brown. He was the eldest of two siblings.
Brown graduated in 1989 from Robert E. Fitch Senior High School in Groton. He married Ann Marie Pruitt on June 1, 2007.
He was preceded in death by his parents, William and Margaret Brown, also of Wellesport, and his younger brother, John.
He is surived by his wife, Ann Marie Brown, and son, Michael Allen.
Funeral Arrangements were entrusted to Leitner's Funeral Home. Visitation will be held on Thursday and Friday, April 30 and May 1, from 5-7 p.m. A mass will be celebrated at St. Michael's on Saturday, May 2, at 9:30 a.m. Interment will follow at Grace Memorial Cemetery.
Friday, May 1, 2009
PAYPHONE #1
Colin has been in love with the same woman for twenty-two years. The woman, called Jinx, has been married to someone else for nearly that long. After work, he comes in, orders a large black, sits at one of the tables and writes notes that he later reads to her over the phone.
It goes like this.
He stands at the payphone with the receiver in one hand, pad and pencil in the other.
JINX: Hello?
COLIN: If you dream that I am writing to you, read and believe what I have written.
Click.
Dial-tone...
It goes like this.
He stands at the payphone with the receiver in one hand, pad and pencil in the other.
JINX: Hello?
COLIN: If you dream that I am writing to you, read and believe what I have written.
Click.
Dial-tone...
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
RAY
Ray comes in alone. He eats the same way. People drop by looking for him--some even work up the nerve to approach his table--but he shows up by himself and leaves the same way.
Everything about Ray is trim. He dresses like a businessman on Casual Friday. He's always clean-shaven, hair and fingernails clipped. When he does smoke, which is rarely, it's long, thin, filtered cigarettes.
Ray listens hard and talks in a whisper.
People say he's done time, but when you ask what for, they don't want to comment.
He eats at a table-for-two by the wall. Nobody comes in after him tonight. When he's done, he peels a few bills off a roll from his pocket, then nods to Vy at the register and leaves.
Danny and Phil, a couple of low-level punks, eat at the counter. Once the door swings shut behind Ray, Danny glances over his shoulder.
"I'm only afraid of two people in this world," he says. "God and Ray."
"I don't think God's a person," Phil says.
Danny looks back again, then says, "I'm not sure Ray is, either."
Everything about Ray is trim. He dresses like a businessman on Casual Friday. He's always clean-shaven, hair and fingernails clipped. When he does smoke, which is rarely, it's long, thin, filtered cigarettes.
Ray listens hard and talks in a whisper.
People say he's done time, but when you ask what for, they don't want to comment.
He eats at a table-for-two by the wall. Nobody comes in after him tonight. When he's done, he peels a few bills off a roll from his pocket, then nods to Vy at the register and leaves.
Danny and Phil, a couple of low-level punks, eat at the counter. Once the door swings shut behind Ray, Danny glances over his shoulder.
"I'm only afraid of two people in this world," he says. "God and Ray."
"I don't think God's a person," Phil says.
Danny looks back again, then says, "I'm not sure Ray is, either."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)