Christmas Eve at the Hard Times Cafe

Christmas Eve at the Hard Times Cafe

[title subtitle=”words: Marla Cantrell”][/title] As soon as Donna steps foot in the Hard Times Café she isn’t Donna anymore. Here, where she waitresses, they called her Red, because of her fiery hair that seems to always fight against the rubber band...
Mama Said She Loved Me But She Lied

Mama Said She Loved Me But She Lied

[title subtitle=”words: Marla Cantrell”][/title] “My mama says said loved me but she lied,” Wesley Kidd, near about thirty years old, calls out to anybody that’ll listen. He’s standing in the middle of Talawanda Street, right where...
What Brings Us Home

What Brings Us Home

[title subtitle=”words: Marla Cantrell”][/title] When Bobby Romeo was going on nineteen, he left the hills with his tail afire. I never seen a body want to leave home as much as he did. He said, “Sister, the world’s awaiting,” and then he...
The Middle Child’s Middle Name

The Middle Child’s Middle Name

[title subtitle=”words: Marla Cantrell”][/title] The only reason my oldest daughter Reba Fay moved me in with her was because that wet-behind-the-ears doctor at the emergency room said I’d be dead by spring. I know it’s true. I overheard Reba Fay talking...
Night of a Million  Shattered Stars

Night of a Million Shattered Stars

[title subtitle=”fiction: Marla Cantrell”][/title] I was born on a day so hot shingles melted on rooftops, all across town. My mama is telling me this, has told me this a hundred times, and is telling me again because the story shows her at her most...

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