take that

The husband left his wife, 2 year old son and 3 month old daughter, suddenly, in the middle of the night. Poof, he is just gone. Wife has to find a job, doesn't speak English very well, is struggling to pay mortgage that is in her sister's name. She puts the house on the market, asking more than the market value is at this time, trying to cover loans made to furnish home and deadbeat husband with a nice lexus.

She has nobody here to watch her children, she sends them to mexico to live with her parents so she … Read more

Neighbor . . .Guilty as Charged!

It was one of those sweltering summer nights, windows flung open and the curtains barely touched by a breeze. The homes on the street of our little town are close so you can hardly "not know" your neighbors and sometimes you get to know them more than you would have ever imagined. Pixie, Ed and their children lived across the street from us, maybe a kid's stone throw away. There were lots of good times as our kids gathered in the different yards every summer day and played into the evening until the fire flies were … Read more

summer of sam

I was two, my mother tells me, when she got a chain lock on her front door because of our next door neighbor. Or rather, because of our next door neighbor's mistake. My mother saw the vaccuum cleaner salesman making his way down our quiet suburban street, and knew in advance she wouldn't let him in, not because she didn't need a vaccuum cleaner, but because door-to-door salesmen were creepy.

Our next door neighbor Mrs. Whitman--friendly, confident, jewish--did not feel the same way. She opened her front door and stood in the foyer and politely listened to the salesman's shpiel … Read more

Wasps and Bears

I was 6. An old man lived next door. He had an isolated backyard filled with plants and ivy; I always played there. I shudder when I think about it now.

It was my birthday, my seventh. He gave me a present wrapped in star covered paper. I ran home to show it to mommy. I tore open the papr, and there was a bear inside. I hugged it, and wasps flew out and stung me.

The fucked up people aren't always the ones in alleyways, drunk, asking for coins. Sometimes, they're the ones in the nice brick house next door, with … Read more

WITNESS TO A MURDLE

From the kitchen window I hear voices coming from the neighbors’ back yard. Through the gaps in the fence I see two men, heads bent, looking down at a huge snapping turtle moving through the grass. It hunkers down when the older man bends over and begins to wack its head with a small hammer. Wack. Wack, wack, wack– now the sickening sound of metal hitting turtle shell. The turtle must weigh over 50 pounds– I’ve never seen such a monster. I’ve got to DO SOMETHING– but what?
Two … Read more