6:00 pm “Dear, you’ll love Aunty Remi and her children, I promise you.” I said nothing, my gaze fixed out the car window. My mom sighed, swerving her Bentley around a corner and stopping before a black gate. “I won’t disturb anyone. I’ll just be in my room, as always,” I said, dreading stepping out of the car. “My love, that’s why you’re here. You’re always in your room! Don’t worry, it’s just for a day. I’ll pick you up tomorrow evening. Honestly, you’ll love it here.” I doubted it. Every time Aunty Remi called my mom, it was chaos—yelling at her kids with a background of shouting and crying. If there was one thing I disliked more than chocolate cake, it was noise. I shivered at the thought. Mom honked, and the gate opened. Aunty Remi stepped out in a midi Ankara gown, her boho braids hastily packed. Flour…
I was about to close my clinic when my mobile rang. It was from Raeni, my fiancée. “Khenan,” she said, “are you busy? Can…
I rested above the path that followed the stream. My back leaned against the grassy hillside, and I tried to ignore the throbbing in…
The scenic byway of Joshua Tree National Park could take as long as three hours to reach from Charlie’s rental in Pacific Palisades. But…
It was the day after my ninth birthday. Being at the end of May the weather was decent, and my dad suggested a walk…
My father peered ahead towards the moonlit backroad, his hands firm on the beaten leather of the steering wheel. He raised one to scratch…
“At the Canal Saint-Martin . . .” Leon holds his hand up, attempting to cut off Trevon from saying another word. The pigeons swarm…
We who gathered at the St. Teresa Del Norte Saloon rebelled against the norms of the day, whatever the norms were, it didn’t really…
I see him just about every morning during my jog. Jogging in the dawn through the neighborhood still asleep and then through a nearby trail…