Fiction

  • Bad Books (Solo 3.6)

    “I am ashamed to own them. You must understand that. And yet, to own them and not acknowledge them is even worse. That’s why I need you.” Charles pauses, to make sure I agree. I nod. My thoughts are elsewhere, but he trusts my serious expression. I call him Charles in my head, but address…

  • Villa Bohème (Solo 3.5)

    In the summer, your father starts taking in the strays. First come Pete and Jane. They’re from Texarcana and they’re spending a week at the El San Juan Hotel. When they walk into the Trolley, they sit next to your father. “This is paradise,” Pete says. He lifts his drink. “You, my friend, have got…

  • Café Deux Mondes (Solo 3.3)

    1. At first the women disagree over the saltshakers and peppermills and then the cookware and finally the utensils, until the bickering gives way to full-throated arguments and one stupendous scream-fest. When Miriam bursts into tears, Tamara follows suit. Within moments the two women fall into each other’s arms apologizing, consoling, and vowing never to…

  • No Damage

    The sky was still dark when Trung Ngoc woke to a tap on her shoulder. She had been dreaming. In her dream, she was riding her brother’s bicycle from her village in Vo Cuong to the nursing school in Hanoi. The endless dirt road and the heat had put her in a trance. When she…

  • What Remains

    It was too late when I was called in, but it was probably always too late, which is to say there was really never any hope. People didn’t want to believe that—even some of the people who were closest to Beth, maybe them most of all. They would ask me for a long time after…

  • Mannequin

    Oscar bought a mannequin so he could drive the HOV lane at rush hour. He bid her off eBay and dressed her in an oversize pantsuit that his wife hadn’t worn since college. She had jagged cheekbones and a black wig. She was lean. His wife, Daphne, called her Dora. “Dora?” Oscar asked, staring at…