hectoribis

Chukwunonso

(Writer’s note: We had a memorial service on May 26 for Modestus Chukwunonso Chimezie, may he rest in peace, and this is a mix of what I wrote/said extemporaneously at the service.) “Go to St. Thomas More.” These were some of the last words I shared with my

Baku-San Come Eat My Dreams

Freddy Nakamura held his feverish infant daughter, Adaora, close, in her yellow blanket. They were at their family home in an inaka west of Tokyo near Kanagawa. It was a cool evening, a full moon peeked through an open window at the oyabun caring for his sick child. A gentle

Be Cool, Hunny Bunny

Hawthorne Grill sits on the corner of 137th and Hawthorne Boulevard. Originally opened in 1956, the diner is the last standing reminder of the Googie architectural style. A style symbolic of the 1950’s hope for a Space Age future. Now that America had sent a man to the moon,

Luck and The Byzantine Sailor

> The coin don’t have no say. It’s just you. - Carla Jean to Anton Chigurh in No Country for Old Men > People think they know what they want but they generally don’t. Sometimes if they’re lucky they’ll get it anyways. Me I was

The Information Theory

There’s so much I want to say to you right now, but I can’t --- “Mr. Eye-hee-nachos? Mr. Eye-hee-nachos” I was cleaning my glasses when they called me. It was a habit I had stolen from my father. When I was growing up, he would have friends over

Everything That Counts

An Accountant From Central RomaniaNot everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts. - Albert Einstein I was searching my inbox for writing topics and happened upon my Harvard Law School application from 2011 (spoiler I didn’t get in). It got me reflecting

Our King Is There

What do you want to be when you grow up? Up until about age 8 or 9, I would respond to this question by saying that I wanted to be a priest. I wanted to be a priest mostly because my Dad wanted me to be a priest. He wanted

Jerry Springer's Agamemnon

Jerry Springer, the famous day-time television playwright, sits quietly in the greenroom studying the script for his show one last time. He chuckles with delight at the drama of this episode - deceit, infidelity, and patricide. His detractors accused his playhouse of being low-brow, featuring characters from life's

Certain Vague Hopes of Disaster

On these early mornings, His handsome sleeping face reminded Jane why she desired him. The feral attraction that had brought them together. She wanted to pet him now in his restful state. Jane had been stealing more and more of these moments recently. She didn’t know why. Maybe, she

Sublimation

Tim Conrad - Alpha Omega Cover Art, 1980The air was suffocating. Sophie took in short, sharp, labored breaths as she crawled forward on her forearms and shins. The earth vibrated from the stampede of booted men. She hadn't seen them yet. She heard their mayhem first. The rat-a-tat-tat

A Small Price to Pay for Salvation

> "Hear me and rejoice! You have had the privilege of being saved by the Great Titan. You may think this is suffering. No... it is salvation. The universal scales tip toward balance because of your sacrifice. Smile... for even in death, you have become children of Thanos."

No Exit

For the past few months, I'd been sleeping in her bed, with the cinnamon covers and the polka dot pillows that don't match. Her soft, waking smile flashes across my eyelids. Her sweet scent scampers up my nostrils.  My dark-chocolate hands become clammy anticipating a visit

Whiplash

Every kid needs four key ass-whippings in life, and every parent has to do their best to hand them out. They are the Stealing, Lying, Cheating, and Disrespecting ass whippings. Every grown-up who doesn't know how to act missed the key ass whippings. If you can't

A Quantum Theory of Identity

Bryan Cranston as Walter White and as Walter White's alter ego, Heisenberg> Skyler: If I have to hear one more time that you did this for the family...Walter: I did it for me. I liked it. I was good at it. And, I was really... I

Reasonable Doubt

“See, I’m a hustler’s hope, I’m not his pipe dreams. So when they speak of success, I’m what they might mean” — Jay-Z

Ten Years

“My life has got to be like this, it’s got to keep going up” — Jay Gatsby

Belonging to Tomorrow

“Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.” — Yoda, The Empire Strikes Back

Love is the General

“Real love is what enables you to accomplish anything. Not will, not discipline, not work ethic. If you love it those other things come in…

I Came From the Ghetto Too

The flames licked at the big blue letters on the side of the building — “Empire Liquor Market”. The frenzied looters dashed in and out of…

Story of a Champion, Robbie You’re a Champion

“I heard motherfuckers sayin’ they made Hov. Made Hov say, “Okay, so, make another Hov!” — Jay-Z, Lost One 2006

C is for Kompromat

Still breathing heavily, Mikhail Medvedya rested on the park bench as he polished the fog from his glasses. His mother had bought the…

Eat Your Heart Out

Buffet. All you can eat. The man in the red Buick Skylark read the flickering neon sign as an invitation and a definition. He was trim…

It’s the Wood That Should Fear You

“Rise and let me look at your ridiculous face.” The master was not known for his geniality. The student lay prostrate with her chest…

Secure Your Own Mask, Before Helping Others

…If there is a drop in cabin pressure, panels above your seat will open, revealing oxygen masks. If this happens, pull a mask toward you…

The Absurdity of Forgiveness

December 1983 —