If you ask my friends, they’ll likely say I’m the last guy they’d expect to haul off and hit someone – so this bastard was about to get the wrong impression of me. I don’t even know how hard I can punch, but what else could I do? Yell at him? Forget that. You yell … Continue reading "Dogs Don’t Get Nine Lives"

Claire doesn’t think much of those kids. That much was evident even before I met her, and it’s plain to the kids, too. I imagine Tank-Top lady telling the girl after their visit, “Grandma Claire wasn’t feeling well today,” but she’s old enough to know better.  “Grandma just isn’t an affectionate person,” Tank-Top probably insists … Continue reading "Over the River"

“Did you hear me, Jack?” I asked loudly. “I’m not deaf, Ed,” Jack yelled, though I suspected he was referring to my question, not to the news I had shared just before that. I smiled and nodded. I could have apologized, but he wouldn’t have heard me. If you believed Jack (I hadn’t made up … Continue reading "Albuquerque"