fiction

Be Yourself Tonight

Mocha Bar: a sea of ghetto fab and in the midst of all that, an anomaly— a red headed Viking stares at me—or should I say we exchange covert glances while I attempt to focus on a martini, or an old friend; a new acquaintance; clocking the Viking’s movements from my locus of interaction. Glimpsed on the landing, dancing with some gyrating unknown; lost for a second, but I look up from my ...

Entertainment, Tonight

The couple next to me are being effortlessly annoying. She indulges the conceit of being the only beautiful girl in the world, and he’s preying on her idiocy. At some point she gets up for the bathroom, he glances over at me and smiles. He takes out a cigarette, “Do you have a light?”

Fox, Owl & Co.

Suspiciously he edges for the flask and sniffs it for truth— “You’re a wretched smartass, Parker. A smartass—“ “I’m not Parker.” “Then who in God’s Name?” “Your Personal Assistant—“ “Godsblood! —What’s you’re goddamn name?” The decision to proceed on a no-name basis is a flogged issue.

TYGER

I. the perfume shop Before I discovered the little East Village Fragrance Shop, I had opted for the clean citrus-y notes of Dior’s Fahrenheit for Men. It suited me and few women wore it, at least none that I knew of. The store was owned by Lalita who was Thai —and kept the staff that way. It was a small bountiful boutique crammed with creams, soaps, and spa treatments: candles, face masks, ...

UNDERWORLD

Dear_____ The news of your wedding came this afternoon. How the world has changed. I think of you and the summer we met. You and the Shepardess and Keith and Colin—and Mitch and mini-Mitch (and a host of co-workers whose names don’t come to mind readily…) You sneaking off to see Run Lola, Run; taking the early afternoon train to Pennsylvania—your broken heart; the under-pay; the string of ...

Angelica excerpt from (The Sea of Lightning)

Session VII (from transcript) DR: Hello Otto. OTTO: I notice my new-found privileges have been revoked— DR: It’s nothing to do with me Otto. OTTO: No, that wouldn’t be your style. You just did nothing, right? Not so much as blip of protest from you— DR: Are you angry at me? OTTO: Let down more like it. We had established trust. DR: Please don’t feed my own words back to me; I’m aware of what ...

In The Garden (excerpt from The Sea of Lightning)

Session V: 05/13/99 (From the diary of Doctor Trieste) I arrive in the garden fifteen minutes ahead. It is still dark and a little cold, and I am a little asleep, it is 4:30 a.m. I sit on a stone bench and wait. I scan the area for surveillance cams, but as usual, they elude me. Life begins to unfurl, a slow motion wave of excitement. Otto arrives, handled by an orderly on each side. They ...

THE GIANT

We all watched it on TV— the Giant as he emerged from the debris of the earth; disrupting the strata of Greco-Roman remains which had lain undisturbed for centuries. We were gathered in my Uncle Felix’s mountainside home overlooking Tarqua Bay. It was the usual family type gathering we had on Sunday afternoons after church. Uncle Felix (actually he’s my mothers uncle) is the head ...