Louis Dumkowski and his friend, Cleatus Washington, had settled comfortably in their roles as loan-sharks-in-training. Under
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the tutelage of their boss, and new-found friend, Vincent “Vinnie the Enforcer” Williams, they had found their calling. Vinnie, who had once tried to kill Louis by shooting him
Continue reading Unclaimed Package
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The year I graduated from high school is the same year they put a man on the moon; and it just so happens that I turned seventeen that summer of 1969. Now, these two events might seem to have no relationship to each other, but as I look back on that summer,
Continue reading Declaration of Independence
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Louis Dumkowski hummed along with the nasal country song being played on the radio of the 18-wheeler in which he was riding. He was somewhere north of Texarkana, Arkansas, having been picked up south of St. Louis, Missouri, by Buck Tergen, the driver, who was on his way to Carthage, Texas with a load of
Continue reading Rural Free Delivery
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A meditation on broken ankles, busted TVs and the power of
Continue reading The Tao of Do-it-Yourself
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I’m waiting for your voice. My trembling hand is so damp the phone could slip from my fragile grasp at any moment. Each ring burns in my ear and makes the washing machine in my stomach tumble faster and faster. After three rings, or it could be four, or forty, I
Continue reading Unspoken
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Julia had always felt that “you can choose your friends, but not your relatives.” So she tried to make nice, attend the gatherings of this really strange clan where her efforts to fit were in vain, and in general grin and bear it. Her brother James devoted his every
Continue reading Relative Merits