High school is hell, but a high school bully, self-named Danger, contributed more than his share to my hell on earth.  Not just in school.  Everywhere.  Even my after school jobs.  I longed for revenge. After school jobs were easy to get in the 60’s.  Job hunting meant getting three jobs in one day and picking the best.  The winner was a drug store.  A sixteen year old’s dream: being able to gaze and...

The SIU Acid Queen was exotic and bizarrely out of place in the supermarket checkout line, helplessly trapped in unrelenting white fluorescent.  The cashier was uneasy.  “Three fifty six.” “The chicken is still conscious,” she replied, “It’s screaming.”  The cashier called security. I followed the Acid Queen out.  “Taj!” She turned sharply.  I felt her eyes pierce me all the way to the back of...