Stories tagged poverty

I Can't Answer

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Each afternoon at three-fifteen, Jermanique’s father picked her up, pulled his white Ford 150 up to the gates of the school and rolled down the tinted windows and called, “Come on, Baby,” in a booming voice. The other children looked on. I’d wav

Chores

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... honestly, the dishes were just tired. Too few in number and washed too often, they dreamed of an escape -- any escape, really -- from the endless cycle of hot water and being racked together to dry ...

Economics

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Man, I'm not feeling so happy anymore. I tried to tackle my money but it slipped past me and ran out the door. I don't have a clue what to do. I'm hungry and I can't be worrying about you while both of us are trying to snag the same pair of…

White Lies

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On these days, while Momma counts the money, we go to Blockbuster where we can pick a movie each, play on the playground at McDonalds, lick tall ice cream cones.

The Language

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You are an idiot when you do not speak the language in rivers.

You Are Free To Leave

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All that was missing from this festival of the brain dead was Barney the goddamn dinosaur.

The End of the World

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I find driftwood, long, smooth logs washed up on the beach, drag them to dunes still wet from the sea...

Nothing

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I dream about the boy in The Neverending Story, the gate of mirrors, and the Nothing, a dark cloud that floats in the sky, takes away everything.

i have never seen morning under force

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something inside me/ rises out

Alien

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Sex, though...yes, I had some of that

Omens

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But these were seconds or minutes in a life of struggle and failure.

Roadside Assistance

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When it starts looking bad enough, I bundle up and head out the door.

Five Bucks.

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“For Chrissake! Just get me one of fucking Tony's half-assed, made in China bullshit, getaway cars. My plate is hot!” I had never hated cars so much before. Not so much the cars, but the sound the cheap ones made when they drove past my house. The…

Strained

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She wonders if he will do the dishes. He said that he would, but that doesn’t mean anything. He said he would do them last week, said he would save money, said he would come home last night. He didn’t do any of those things, either.

Fertile Ground

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Miriam forced herself to focus on the kitchen door and on putting one foot in front of the other. “Is everything alright?” she heard Ada ask the family. “Of course, everything is fine,” the woman said. “What could be wrong other than the impossible serv