by wordmaster
A mother knows her children and Momma MacKay knew Larry. Though it wasn’t his night to do dishes, Larry traded with his brother, so she knew he wanted some time alone with her. Of all her boys, Larry was the one that most needed to talk, but the one that was the least forthcoming. A closed boy, Larry would wait until she pressed him before he’d reveal anything. Like oil, his father used to say, you have to drill to find Larry. Momma made the effort. She picked and poked until she got him to say he’d asked a friend to stay for the weekend. (more…)
by Wiziah
Atmar Johnston checked himself into the Waco Veterans’ hospital in September, 1964 to get sober. He’d done this before after spending months poisoning himself good and proper with numerous gallons of cheap hooch. Eighteen years, off and on, of hard drinking had left Atmar with a fibrotic liver and dropsy in his gut. The VA doctors held Atmar three weeks, sedating his delirium tremens and laboring over a nasty bacterial peritonitis. Again, they sent Atmar home sober, but this time with a thirty percent chance of living another year. Atmar would soon die for lack of a liver — the one he’d slowly murdered with rotgut booze. (more…)
by Wiziah
Michael’s head came up out of the book he had started that morning. “What?” he asked the old Indian woman. “Did you say pourquoi?”
“Poor-qua,” she nodded. “The story of the people, and when God made us. You know the poor-qua?”
“No.” Mike shook his head and closed his book, a finger marking the page. He didn’t know any such story, but he did know the French word for “Why”. Its use by Mary Smart surprised him. His interest piqued, Mike decided to listen. He’d go back to his reading if she didn’t have a compeling Why Story. (more…)
