Bronx Noir

This collection is comprised of works of fiction. All names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the authors’ imaginations. Any resemblance to real events or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published by Akashic Books

©2007 Akashic Books

Series concept by Tim McLoughlin and Johnny Temple

Bronx map by Sohrab Habibion

ePub ISBN-13: 978-1-936-07022-0

ISBN-13: 978-1-933354-25-5

Library of Congress Control Number: 2006936535

All rights reserved

First printing

Akashic Books

PO Box 1456

New York, NY 10009

[email protected]

www.akashicbooks.com

ALSO IN THE AKASHIC NOIR SERIES:

Baltimore Noir, edited by Laura Lippman

Brooklyn Noir, edited by Tim McLoughlin

Brooklyn Noir 2: The Classics, edited by Tim McLoughliny

Chicago Noir, edited by Neal Pollack

D.C. Noir, edited by George Pelecanos

Dublin Noir, edited by Ken Bruen

London Noir, edited by Cathi Unsworth

Los Angeles Noir, edited by Denise Hamilton

Manhattan Noir, edited by Lawrence Block

Miami Noir, edited by Les Standiford

New Orleans Noir, edited by Julie Smith

San Francisco Noir, edited by Peter Maravelis

Twin Cities Noir, edited by Julie Schaper & Steven Horwitz

Wall Street Noir, edited by Peter Spiegelman

FORTHCOMING:

Brooklyn Noir 3, edited by Tim McLoughlin & Thomas Adcock

D.C. Noir 2: The Classics, edited by George Pelecanos

Delhi Noir (India), edited by Hirsh Sawhney

Detroit Noir, edited by E.J. Olsen & John C. Hocking

Havana Noir (Cuba), edited by Achy Obejas

Istanbul Noir (Turkey), edited by Mustafa Ziyalan & Amy Spangler

Lagos Noir (Nigeria), edited by Chris Abani

Las Vegas Noir, edited by Jarret Keene & Todd James Pierce

Paris Noir (France), edited by Aurélien Masson

Queens Noir, edited by Robert Knightly

Rome Noir (Italy), edited by Chiara Stangalino & Maxim Jakubowski

Toronto Noir (Canada), edited by Janine Armin & Nathaniel G. Moore

With great admiration, the editor dedicates this book to

Grace Paley, whose childhood in the Bronx was happy.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Title Page

Copyright Page

Introduction

PART I: BRING IT ON HOME

JEROME CHARYN                                            Claremont/Concourse

White Trash

TERRENCE CHENG                                           Lehman College

Gold Mountain

JOANNE DOBSON                                              Sedgwick Avenue

Hey, Girlie

RITA LAKIN                                                       Elder Avenue

The Woman Who Hated the Bronx

PART II: IN THE STILL OF THE NIGHT

LAWRENCE BLOCK                                           Riverdale

Rude Awakening

SUZANNE CHAZIN                                              Jerome Avenue

Burnout

KEVIN BAKER                                                    Yankee Stadium

The Cheers Like Waves

ABRAHAM RODRIGUEZ, JR.                              South Bronx

Jaguar

PART III: ANOTHER SATURDAY NIGHT

STEVEN TORRES                                               Hunts Point

Early Fall

S.J. ROZAN                                                         Botanical Garden

Hothouse

THOMAS BENTIL                                                Rikers Island

Lost and Found

MARLON JAMES                                                 Williamsbridge

Look What Love Is Doing to Me

PART IV: THE WANDERER

SANDRA KITT                                                     City Island

Home Sweet Home

ROBERT J. HUGHES                                           Fordham Road

A Visit to St. Nick’s

MILES MARSHALL LEWIS                                 Baychester

Numbers Up

JOSEPH WALLACE                                              Bronx Zoo

The Big Five

PART V: ALL SHOOK UP

ED DEE                                                                  Van Cortlandt Park

Ernie K.’s Gelding

PATRICK W. PICCIARELLI                                  Arthur Avenue

The Prince of Arthur Avenue

THOMAS ADCOCK                                                Courthouse

You Want I Should Whack Monkey Boy?

About the Contributors

INTRODUCTION

WELCOME TO DA BRONX

The Bronx is a wonderful place.

“Wonderful” in the literal sense: full of wonders. Wonders everyone’s heard of, like the Bronx Zoo and Yankee Stadium; wonders that make presidents cry, as Jimmy Carter famously did in 1977, standing in the rubble of the South Bronx; and wonders only we Bronxites seem to know about, like Wave Hill, City Island, and Arthur Avenue.