Still Life in Gutter w/ Guitar
Life expectancy for a Black man is about sixty. Retirement is sixty-five.
Preview
18–27 min read
A man in a tattered black suit sat down on a stoop at St. Marks and Avenue A, beside the Black street musician who works that corner, and told him his name was Death. The two of them stayed there most of the afternoon. He must be using. Twenty minutes.
The Book of Rook
Every other vendor was breaking a law. He was breaking none.
Preview
7–11 min read
Police shut down the weekend market on the Lower East Side. About a dozen officers attended, where two or three is normal. Every other vendor was in violation of multiple statutes. The bookseller was in violation of none. He is named as having refused a lawful order. He must have done something. Seven minutes.
Dragons in the Lunchroom
They gave him counseling twice a week instead. They can’t prove anything.
Preview
27–41 min read
A student jumped from the window of the teachers’ smoking lounge and broke both legs. He says the Black kid at the back lunch table told him to do it. The school gave that boy counseling on Tuesdays and Thursdays rather than a suspension. He must have told him to jump. Half an hour.
Shine
The man who evicted them owns both houses. He owns about half the town.
Preview
10–15 min read
The family at the corner house has been evicted. Their lease was broken by the man who owns it, who also owns the house next door and about half the town. As the wagon pulled away the Black boy from next door raised both middle fingers. He must not have liked them either.
Squat Politics
The file holds his school transcripts, his writings, and nothing else.
Preview
23–35 min read
Field report, March 1995. An undercover officer has established a post at a squat on Avenue A. He is not there for the drugs. He is there for a Black man who has never been charged with anything. He must be running them. Twenty-five minutes.
Teddy Beam
Hospitalized twice. Both times he fell down the stairs.
Preview
9–14 min read
Subject is eight years old. Hospitalized twice this year by members of his own household. Broken eye socket. Broken clavicle. The explanation given in each instance was that he fell down the stairs. He sleeps in the hall closet at the top of those stairs. Ten minutes.
The Birth of a Villain
The mother declined to name him. She must not have wanted him.
Preview
10–15 min read
Chicago, 1967. The party was turned away from the first hospital, cited reason overcrowding. The child was delivered in the colored maternity ward, which is a warehouse one block from the county hospital. The mother declined to name him. She must not have wanted him. Ten minutes.
The Saint and the Psychic
Raised over a bar by a registered psychic. He must have taken it.
Preview
11–16 min read
A six-year-old was sent up the center aisle of a packed church holding a hundred-dollar bill, with instructions not to be seen. He is not supposed to be in the building at all. His mother has one standing rule and that is it. He must have taken it. Ten minutes.
Dirty Dozens in the Schoolyard
He must have brought it. He is the one who says things about mothers.
Preview
10–15 min read
There’s been an altercation in the yard at the Little Brick Schoolhouse. A sharpened screwdriver was involved and has not been recovered. Nuns dispersed the yard with yardsticks. The eight-year-old who ended up on the ground is the one they took to the office. Ten minutes.
How Genius is Rewarded When You’re Black
There’s been a disturbance at the elementary school.
Preview
10–16 min read
There’s been a disturbance at the elementary school. The building is open on a Thursday night. The only Black student is being made to retake the statewide exam, because he scored higher than the wealthiest boy in town. He must have cheated. He’s only nine years old. He must’ve skipped a grade. Ten minutes.
Spades
Two guards arrived with a stun gun. They looked around and laughed.
Preview
23–35 min read
There’s been a disturbance at the men’s shelter. A resident bit a guard’s hand. Two guards responded, one with a stun gun drawn, looked around, decided nothing here was worth the paperwork, and laughed. She is housed in a men’s facility. She must have started it. Twenty-five minutes.
Blues for Mister Rook
He did not buy that guitar. Somebody ought to ask where he got it.
Preview
21–32 min read
A man is sleeping on a woman’s couch in Chelsea. She works a corner on the Lower East Side to keep them both high. He sits in the chair and plays guitar. He must be living off her. He did not buy that guitar. Twenty minutes.
A Portrait of the Addict as a Hopeless Romantic
This motel produces at least one body a week.
Preview
21–31 min read
Three people are in a single-occupancy motel room on the west side. Two of them are tied up. The Black man is zip-tied to the bed. The woman sitting on his chest is holding the gun, and the gun is not his. He must be the one running them. Twenty minutes.
