Cellular

“Listen to yourself, Norman. Listen to how jaded you’ve become.”
“I’m not jaded!” Norman insisted. He was speaking from his car phone somewhere in the Santa Clarita Valley.
“You’re trying to tell me that a 27-year old porn star is old enough to play a middle aged woman, someone’s aunt no less.”
“She is older,” Norman persisted. “Twenty-seven [...]

Clementine Katz

“Who the hell is Clementine Katz? Does that name ring a bell for you?”
“Uh-uh.”
“Well, goddamnit, she keeps calling my cell phone and leaving a message but it’s not a personalized greeting so I don’t know if she has the wrong number or what.”
“What d’you mean it’s not personalized?”
“She just says ‘Hi, it’s Clementine Katz calling’ [...]

Iced Coffee

Trace considered Amy over the rim of his wine glass.
“If you told the guy that sleeping with you wouldn’t advance his career, then you must’ve got the vibe that he wanted to sleep with you.”
“He’s in my class, Trace. He’s a student of mine.”
“Yeah, and he’s got that young and handsomely Spanish thing that turns [...]

Walking in L.A.

There’s nothing that can make you feel quite as marginalized as walking in L.A. on a hot summer day. All around you people are whipping about in their shiny cars, windows hermetically sealed against the heat, air conditioners evaporating the sweat from their pores while perspiration forms pools under your black T-shirt that you were [...]

Return to New Colombia

“So, I read the new Trace story.”
“And?”
“It was interesting. Experimental and surreal, very creative.”
“Do you think it works as a stand-alone piece? I mean, a village burns down and Trace kills people and nothing is explained.”
“Trace allegedly kills people. You never came right out and said he killed anyone.”
“True. But there is a whole back [...]

She Used To Look Like Somebody

“Tell me about the gun.”
“What about it?”
“Where’d you get it?”
“Why?”
“I just wanna know.”
“Some guy. Two hundred dollars.”
“What guy?”
“What the fuck you want to know for? Shit.”
“We’re in this together, right?”
“Yeah. Right. So?”
“So who was the guy?”
“Some guy in Echo Park, Eddie. Jesus.”
“Where’d you meet him?”
“What?”
“I asked where you met him at, when he gave you [...]