The air, it grew heavy, with the rocking 'neumonia and the boogie woogie flu. But Creoe, she just danced and shook the rubber chicken, "Doo-dah! doo-dah! all night long," caught in the moonlight, swaying like a potted Cypress, buttnaked,...

Somewhere behind him, the bedsprings groaned. Tanja stretched beneath tangled sheets, her tattooed thigh flashing pale where the blanket slipped. "You're thinking about her," she said, not a question. The cigarette between her lips trembled when she inhaled. Not...

The cello case leaned against the bar stool, its black surface scuffed from years of being dragged across stages and subway platforms. Inside, the instrument hummed faintly—not with music, but with the residual warmth of Lena's thighs after a...