The words tasted sour. I agreed with Patrick. In New Orleans, sometimes death did feel more like socializing. And he knew better than anyone else. He frequented postmortem parties daily, trolling for books.

“Willie said fathers were overrated, that my father could be one of thousands, m…”

“Hello, Josie,” they’d say with a half smile, followed by a sigh and sometimes a…”

“The scent of Havana tobacco draped thick from the magnolia trees in the front y…”

“My biggest fear was that the old Charlie was in there somewhere trying to commu…”