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It’s Lit

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    The Inheritance

    I was tiptoeing past my mama’s bedroom—hoping not to disturb her afternoon nap, a crime I’m accused of committing most every other Saturday—when I caught a glimpse of something that made me take a couple of giant steps back. A dress hanging outside her closet door. A black dress with a short jacket, burgundy accents,…

    By

    Yesha Callahan

    Published

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    Talon of God

    My tears have been my food day and night, while people say to me all day long, “Where is your God?” —Psalm 42 Prologue “Spare some change for a veteran?” His words were empty, barely loud enough to be heard over the trains thundering on the elevated rail overhead. Some days, Lenny didn’t know why…

    By

    Yesha Callahan

    Published

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    Beyond the Blue

    Vibrantly glowing inside a dark hall, a small ball of fire burned suspended midair. The flaming orb bounced upward, lingering shortly, before landing in Princess Inara’s palm. Her brown eyes stared intently into the flame as if it were a mystical crystal ball. Unfortunately, she found no answers to her problems hidden within the circular…

    By

    Yesha Callahan

    Published

  • Dominate
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    Dominate

    I wanted to believe it didn’t mean anything. The smell of whiskey on his breath. The hurried kiss and his tongue latched around my left nipple. The gentle suckling as my abrasive wool sweater remained bunched against my throat. I told myself it meant nothing and I was nothing but an ends to a means.…

    By

    Danielle C. Belton

    Published

  • The Takedown
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    The Takedown

    “And that was when Mr. Bailey groped you?” the human resources manager’s face showed no trace of emotion. He had put a box of tissues on the table, setting it down with a dull thud. The tissue sticking up looked like a staircase that went nowhere. “Yes,” Megan said. “He closed the blinds, locked the…

    By

    Yesha Callahan

    Published

  • Birthday Boy
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    Birthday Boy

    Kuokoa B. Mchango was certain that it was the last night he would be alive, for you see, tomorrow was his 28th birthday. As he lay in his fold-out cot and stared at the low ceiling, he realized with a twinge of sadness that this fact didn’t bother him nearly as much as it used…

    By

    Yesha Callahan

    Published

  • We Head South
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    We Head South

    October 17—9:43 p.m. EST The two gradually exited Carmine’s restaurant in midtown Manhattan, fully satisfied and slightly tipsy from the fine cuisine and red wine. As they made their way onto the other side of the restaurant door, the cool October night air immediately greeted them. “Wow,” Marie uttered through a smile. “It really got…

    By

    Yesha Callahan

    Published

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    Champion

    I like to tell folks I don’t have a storyBut I also like to fuck with peopleThat in itself tells a story.You confused yet?Good, now we have something in commonI think that’s how friendships begin.Not sure if I can maintain it but that’s part of the story tooPay attention to the detailsThat’s where the angels…

    By

    theroot-wpadmin

    Published

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    Roses

    In the summer of 1998, shortly after my girlfriend Valerie moved out of our Brooklyn apartment, using the excuse that I was too depressing to live with, Mom called me from her Harlem brownstone, sniffling into the phone. “He’s gone, David,” she said, her voice cracking. “I knew as soon as they started cutting off…

    By

    Yesha Callahan

    Published

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    (What Did I Do to Get So) Black and Blue

    Janice limply heaves the thick unabridged dictionary into the metal trash can at the corner of Vandam and crosses the street. Leaving the Shine office with the large Webster’s in her arms is a pathetic act of payback, she knows. But Janice brought the book with her when she started and she would be damned…

    By

    Miles Marshall Lewis

    Published