By Different than other men Dora found online—rougher hands, a dry wit, and tendency to hypochondria. Similar in how he loved drinks and small bites at happy-hours, TV crime shows, and playing Cards Against Humanity. She liked his looks, told friends he was a cousin of the Marlboro man: 6’ 2” tall, wide shoulders, narrow hips; sartorial ruggedness in dungarees, canvas jackets, and steel-toed boots. His complexion and wavy hair were the color of bourbon on the rocks.
Mornings, he mixed a shot of Dewar’s into his coffee, gargled with another, then splashed some on his shaved cheeks. His cough from smoking two packs of cigarettes a day was slightly calmed by non-stop chewing of spearmint gum. He bit his fingernails in private, and in public, tried to hide their jagged edges and inflamed folds.
One Friday night, he challenged Dora to a tequila drinking contest. He won with 18 shots. Later in bed, his head lolled on her chest, and he cried inconsolably. He disclosed his mother breast fed him until he was six years old. Shocked, Dora shoved his shoulder—the shoulder of the Marlboro-man impostor. Her thoughts swirled with the spinning bed, and the puzzle pieces of his oral fixations linked. She put him in a headlock, and decided to keep him as her baby.
Kay Rae Chomic
Kay Rae Chomic is a published novelist (A Tight Grip). She has flash writings published in Crack the Spine, Five:2:One’s The Side Show, Writer Advice—third place contest winner, Two Sisters Writing—contest winner, Hysteria 6 (UK), The First Line. She had a story shortlisted for the flash fiction contest sponsored by Hastings LitFest-2019 (UK). Kay lives in Seattle, loves to travel, has a passion for ping pong, and is a Motown fan forever.
Read Kay’s most recently published flash fiction:
Less Like Twins: https://www.crackthespine.com/2019/05/issue-251.html
The Remodel:
https://writeradvice.com/prior-contest-winner-prior-winners-spring-2019/
Dating by Books: https://www.twosisterswriting.com/winners-1/2019/7/24/dating-by-books-by-kay-rae-chomic
Here’s an essay about Kay’s experience attending a comedy writing class:
Planet Man, with YouTube video: http://five2onemagazine.com/planet-man-nonfiction-by-kay-rae-chomic/
Check out her novel, A Tight Grip: a novel about golf, love affairs, and women of a certain age: https://www.amazon.com/author/kayraechomic
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KayRaeChomic
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KayRaeChomic
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com@kaywritesinseattle
Author Website: https://www.kayraechomic.com
Cover Image by Engin_Akyurt
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