In the Shadow of the Belt, Chapter 14: Reflections on Education
School Education I have almost no desire to enumerate all the school misfortunes that fall on students at these venerable institutions. The Soviet…
6 to 6: Bear Hunting
The difficult thing about Mr. Cooper is the fact that he’s 98 years old. He’s five feet three and narrow as a bird in his gray cotton pants and blue…
In the Time of Pandemic: Notes from China
January 2020 When I first heard about the current pandemic, I think I was resting in bed. You were browsing news on the laptop by the desk and told…
In the Shadow of the Belt, Chapter 13: Did I Hit My Children?
Yes. But, by and large, I do not think this counts as flogging. Daughter I hit my daughter four times. The first time was when she was six years old.…
6 to 6: The Rest of It
It’s a hot mid-afternoon and I stop my cab at Fry’s to buy a chocolate bar for my wife. She always asks me to buy her a chocolate bar and I usually…
In the Shadow of the Belt, Chapter 12: Why Did I Join the Military?
She Beats You Because She Loves You People around us knew that my mother regularly, almost every day, beat me or my brother, and more often both of…
6 to 6: Arivaca
Debora Hunter, 389 W. Rillito Drive, is seven feet tall; her head eclipses the sun. She doubles over to get in my cab, her face a sad skull with…
In the Shadow of the Belt, Chapter 11: Basketball
I have always loved sports. As a preschooler, I ran with my small friends in hole-hole, in the ninth grade I began to seriously engage in basketball,…
1-800-Suicide-Hotline, Ext. ATM
One of the absolute best reasons to not commit suicide is the fact that there’s a good chance you’ll get to fuck again before you die of whatever…
6 to 6: Somebody Say the Magic Word
I get out of the cab and step into the oven of a normal Arizona summer day. I can’t find her, I can’t find her. My passenger is supposed to be at the…
