Royalty

Just out of high school and looking for her lot, Queenie Ladd went after Big Paul King, manager of the Bojangles in town. She married him, despite his blazing eczema and constant smell of fried chicken and hush puppies. She stayed with him, despite his pill-popping and fooling around with Inez, the lady who made the biscuits. And now, four years and twice as many biscuit employees later, she’s still with him, because as she’d been reminding her mama ever since Queenie quit sleeping on King’s couch, “I just know some good luck’s coming my way for bringing our names together.”

Kevin Catalano is the author of a collection of short fiction, The Word Made Flesh (firthFORTH Books). His stories have appeared, or are forthcoming, in PANK, Pear Noir!, Atticus Review, Gargoyle Magazine, Used Furniture Review, Booth, and others. He has an MFA in fiction from Rutgers-Newark, where he also teach literature and composition.

Photo Credit: Arthur Koch

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  1. 100 Word Stories | mugsters - [...] journal, I chose two pieces that caught my attention – “Abandonment” and “Royalty.” And since we’ll have less reading…

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