I bartend at Nick’s on Sixth from Thursday to Sunday nights. Nick hired me four years ago on one of July’s hottest afternoons when I was navigating student debt. Audrey tagged along that day, hoping she could land one shift a week. (I thought her sly attempt to sabotage this opportunity was an ignoble excuse to remind me that she was ultimately the better one.) However, as the universe was on my side for once, I landed the role of bartender and on Audrey’s bad side the entire week. For days, she spewed backhanded compliments and forwarded my calls. It wasn’t…
Tag: viola day
Garden Square on Tenth
Garden Square on Tenth by Viola Day Mr. Cromwell always drew the curtains of his window, where his unit sat right above the Romero’s whose daughter I used to date back in ’93. Some say he was allergic to the sun while others assumed the daylight aggravated his depression. Every time I pedaled my way across his once-dilapidated apartment building in my fixed-speed bicycle, I’d see his shades drawn. I was sure his curtains were stained by the sunlight from being drawn so often. At night, when I’d make my way home, after picking up Mom’s medication from the Pine…