A.G.E's Joint

Salted rim Bitter fruit There should be two But only one in front of me Stood up again Hung out to dry By the paper in front of me.  Dark screen Glows bright Attorney call Second paper doubles down On the first. I have no home.

The shrill beep rattled him awake. Blinking his eyes, the screen’s pale light on the table. Damn phone. He’d passed out on the balcony again, light filtered through the building across the street. He managed to pick it up without knocking over the bottle and saw the little line on the screen. Sarah had posted another hiking picture on Instagram, Quinn’s Junction this time. Miles and miles open country compared to overgrown palms and shrubbery he saw along his street. Grief came out as a sigh. Why didn’t he just unfollow? Or better yet, why didn’t she block him? She did it on purpose. Pictures only reminded him of what was lost. He'd been conditioned to believe divorce ended in desolation.The word described the last year and half. He'd been busy being faithful and working hard, while she made him out like Satan incarnate. All the trappings of the “good life” dissolved before his eyes. Maybe it started when the plant closed, it took him awhile to get the job at the warehouse. ...

It was one of the older beach shacks, a weathered gray stack of sticks sitting squat on the bluff near the inlet, four rooms and a screed porch overlooking the ocean. The white Adirondack contrasted with the dark green paint of the screened in porch. A man, the picture of moral desolation, sat in the chair looking over the churning water. Seaside sounds quieted his rage and focused his thoughts. It was gracious of Jack to let him stay at the beach house. They had their differences over the years; the respect for the man was always there. Guilt and shame have a way to loosen these kinds of favors. It wasn’t every day your daughter twists the knife into her ex and made you pay for it.    Atlanta to Kiawah had passed through his mind in a blur of tears. A case of Wild Turkey had been liberated from the reception, another case of a friend looking the other way. Somehow, he kept it between the lines and the State Patrol was none the wiser. A case and a half was left...

After a brief spin, Bart set Holly gently on the floor and handed her the cane and the small bouquet of flowers he had picked up from the street side vendor. Her thin arms gathered him into a long hug, burying his face into her highlighted hair. Laughter echoed down the long room, but few noticed. “Oh, man! I wish I got that greeting every time I arrived somewhere.” She gave him a peck on the cheek.   “So we finally meet!” Straightening her top, she kept giggling. “Although I wish the circumstances were a little better. I can’t thank you enough for putting me up.”   “I know what having obnoxious relatives are like.” He said taking her larger suitcase. “I certainly would have more help when Amy died. Let’s get out of here before anyone thinks we’re crazy.” A woman with perfect hair and six inch heels veered into their path, engrossed in her cell phone. Holly leaned in to get out of the way and looked up into grey framed face. Lavender and salt permeated his sen...

It was a beautiful spot, way up the hillside with a view of the valley and river.   It was now in the hazy shade of winter.   My skin stung with blowing snow.   There was not going to be any digging until the storm subsided.  Nobody outside the family knew she was dead.   To everyone else, she had just taken off.   Back home to Omaha or wherever.   She didn’t have any other family we knew of, so there was no way to for anyone to disprove the claim.      But he knew.     It was his form of divorce.   Always in control, he had been the one who buried her up here.   What was he thinking, giving me this trinket?   It was Mom’s.   The information he would never tell the police, he left to me as he gasped his last in the infirmary.   I looked down at his shell and knew the worst was over.   I signed the cremation papers and said the ashes could be flushed in the sewer.   The German Storm T...

The Attorney is in the room Blue and silver suit Gleams. The couple stares at him. They don't know where this is Going. Anger and betrayal Marked their lives to this Point. Tempers flare and desperation Builds In the room. The Attorney Waits. His skill is not the written solution, But the finality, As one picks him up and Fires.