Category Stories

I got through dessert. I want that on the record, because it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done with a fork in my hand. I ate Diane’s pumpkin pie and told […]

“Sit down,” I said. “Please. Before you fall down.” He sat. The attendant melted away the way good ones do when they sense a moment they have no business being inside of. […]

Here’s the thing nobody warns you about getting caught: your mouth keeps going for a second after your brain stops. “That’s ridiculous,” I heard myself say. “Hale would never come to a—” […]

The glass was the only thing between them, and it held for about four seconds. Buddy got to his feet on the garden side, slow, his old hips trembling. He pressed his […]

Dana laid the folder open on the little table and asked the hearing officer for ten minutes. She got them. She started with a single sheet of paper: the flag itself. The […]

The name my mother whispered was Annie. “Annie,” she said again, and her knees went. I caught her elbow and walked her to the porch step, and the three of us sat […]

The man in the gray cardigan walked the length of the conference table, slowly, the way a person walks when they’re in no hurry because the room already belongs to them. “I […]

The first thing I did was keep Pearl talking, because a woman on the phone is a woman who hasn’t reached the wire counter yet. “Tell me about him,” I said, and […]

My attorney, Margaret Hale, took the wristband from my hands and entered it as the first exhibit. Then she did what I had not been able to do for eight months. She […]

“Your Honor,” I said, and my voice came out steadier than I felt. “I’m prepared to support this arrangement. I’ll sign.” Every head in that courtroom turned. Marcus turned last, and the […]