Conflicted
The cigarette burn scars on his arm screamed “I hate you, Dad!” The tears on his cheeks as he touched the casket offered a rebuttal.
Banana’s for Mother’s Day
My daughter burrowed under the covers to retrieve her yellow koala, all sleepy magnanimity. “Banana said you get to hold him first today.”
A House
The orange sign says don’t go in, but momma knows better. We make our beds and wake to a cop in the morning. Momma cries and we leave again.
First Day at School
It rained so hard that I was two hours late picking her up. I found her sitting alone on the school steps, in a puddle of her own making.
Introductory Talk
“Is he the one with the infection?” “No, parasites. My son is the one with the pus.” We’d been stuck in the elevator for eighteen hours.
Up in Smoke
He caught me again. Are you crazy? Jamaican moms do it. My baby’s not Jamaican. Who says it’s yours? He hogged the rest of the bowl.