“…. And… yes, yes… very well… eh heh, sì, sì. Grazie. Ciao,” Rush Gaines hated the teeny bit of schmoozing that he felt came with dealing with the Italians. However, nobody makes a better cannoli, classic Italian sub or calzone, than Warnicka’s, just on the downside of the Hill, from…

“Pretty/Ugly” “How do you tell someone that is out of your league, that you’re working to be in their league, and that they should be with you?” “Oooh, you like her — I knew it.” “Come on, Cap, I’m serious. You don’t even know who it is.” “Oh, yes, I…

“Psychologie (une, huit, douze)” (une) Brick Steele whistled while standing next to the train, wiping sweat from his brow. The ‘crisp’ part of autumn weather hadn’t quite bitten down, yet; but this was perfect cigar weather he thought, smiling at passengers boarding. He’d be off in about five hours; and…

“Prose-chella Thoughts (Death To The System)” Shay-Shay…rechercher pour le degré MFA — all in an effort to take filtered pics in a sundress, complete with D’Ussé and lemonade; cheating by looking at the big screen because she doesn’t know the words to Beyoncé. Dating a bare-footed fellow, heir of cotton-soft…

“Nobody Eats at Brunch/Wood and Patina” “Okay, let’s get right into it,” Shorty, a mole hill of a man, standing about five-foot-three, with a rotund belly and thick shoulders, claps enthusiastically. “Purple Tape, or — “Not this, again,” his younger and really massive stepbrother from some yard in Jamaica, exhaled…

“All You Can Drink/Nobody Eats at Brunch” What you all don’t understand about life and love, is that it’s good until it’s not. The wet spot on the bed is covered and she’ll sleep next to, until one day, she stops. And I know you all love TED, but in…

“A Slacker’s Guide to the Galaxy/Al Gore Rhythms and Choosing Your Genre Wisely” Christopher Wallace once asked, “what’s beef?” Please, don’t comment on this, asking me about some guy with a sword. But speaking of… Live by it and die by it. Just when you thought you escaped, they drill…

“Inebriated and Shit/A Slacker’s Guide to the Galaxy/Right Quick” What were you doing in 1987? I remember years past by where I lived, and not candles blown out on birthday cakes. I was a young one that just knew what I liked when I saw a shape. Our house was…

“A Slacker’s Guide to the Galaxy/Let Me Leave a Quick Note/a Sugar-Daddy Searches for Sugar” I jotted, “…and also, don’t worry about what was in the shack — have that — you always did have a nose for things;” shack, meaning safe; safe, meaning what most people spend 35 years…