U.P. Reader -- Volume #9 (eBook)
156 Seiten
Modern History Press (Verlag)
979-8-89656-045-6 (ISBN)
Michigan's Upper Peninsula is blessed with a treasure trove of storytellers, poets, and historians, all seeking to capture a sense of Yooper Life from settler's days to the far-flung future. Since 2017, the U.P. Reader has offered a rich collection of their voices that embraces the U.P.'s natural beauty and way of life, along with a few surprises.
The seventy plus short works in this 9th annual volume take readers around the U.P. from the Keweenaw to the Soo and from Menominee to Ironwood. Every page is rich with descriptions of the characters and culture that make the Upper Peninsula worth living in and writing about. U.P. writers span genres from humor to history and from mystery to poetry. This issue also includes imaginative fiction from the Dandelion Cottage Short Story Contest winners, honoring the amazing young writers enrolled in all of the U.P.'s schools.
Featuring the words of Leslie Piastro Askwith, John Austin, Laura Barens, Nancy Besonen, Sharon Brunner, Bob Calverley, Mikel B. Classen, Thomas Ford Conlan, Grace Dee, Audrey J. Fick, Deborah K. Frontiera, Kya Gleason, J. L. Hagen, Mack Hassler, Rich Hill, Addison Hoffstrom, Kathleen Carlton Johnson, Tamara Lauder, Ellen Lord, Raymond Luczak, Jemmalee Maleport, Becky Ross Michael, R. H. Miller, Gabrielle O'Connor, Mark Nelson, A.L. Padden, M. Kelly Peach, Amy Perras, Gretchen Preston, Lisa Reitz, Andrew Riutta, Gwenyth Skoog, t. kilgore splake, Bill Sproule, Ninie Gaspariani Syarikin, Tyler Tichelaar, Pat Winton, and Pete Wurdock.
'Funny, wise, or speculative, the essays, memoirs, and poems found in the pages of these profusely illustrated annuals are windows to the history, soul, and spirit of both the exceptional land and people found in Michigan's remarkable U.P. If you seek some great writing about the northernmost of the state's two peninsulas look around for copies of the U.P. Reader.
--Tom Powers, Michigan in Books
'U.P. Reader offers a wonderful mix of storytelling, poetry, and Yooper culture. Here's to many future volumes!'
--Sonny Longtine, author of Murder in Michigan's Upper Peninsula
'As readers embark upon this storied landscape, they learn that the people of Michigan's Upper Peninsula offer a unique voice, a tribute to a timeless place too long silent.'
--Sue Harrison, international bestselling author of Mother Earth Father Sky
The U.P. Reader is sponsored by the Upper Peninsula Publishers and Authors Association (UPPAA) a non-profit corporation. A portion of proceeds from each copy sold will be donated to the UPPAA for its educational programming.
Michigan's Upper Peninsula is blessed with a treasure trove of storytellers, poets, and historians, all seeking to capture a sense of Yooper Life from settler's days to the far-flung future. Since 2017, the U.P. Reader has offered a rich collection of their voices that embraces the U.P.'s natural beauty and way of life, along with a few surprises. The seventy plus short works in this 9th annual volume take readers around the U.P. from the Keweenaw to the Soo and from Menominee to Ironwood. Every page is rich with descriptions of the characters and culture that make the Upper Peninsula worth living in and writing about. U.P. writers span genres from humor to history and from mystery to poetry. This issue also includes imaginative fiction from the Dandelion Cottage Short Story Contest winners, honoring the amazing young writers enrolled in all of the U.P.'s schools. Featuring the words of Leslie Piastro Askwith, John Austin, Laura Barens, Nancy Besonen, Sharon Brunner, Bob Calverley, Mikel B. Classen, Thomas Ford Conlan, Grace Dee, Audrey J. Fick, Deborah K. Frontiera, Kya Gleason, J. L. Hagen, Mack Hassler, Rich Hill, Addison Hoffstrom, Kathleen Carlton Johnson, Tamara Lauder, Ellen Lord, Raymond Luczak, Jemmalee Maleport, Becky Ross Michael, R. H. Miller, Gabrielle O'Connor, Mark Nelson, A.L. Padden, M. Kelly Peach, Amy Perras, Gretchen Preston, Lisa Reitz, Andrew Riutta, Gwenyth Skoog, t. kilgore splake, Bill Sproule, Ninie Gaspariani Syarikin, Tyler Tichelaar, Pat Winton, and Pete Wurdock. "e;Funny, wise, or speculative, the essays, memoirs, and poems found in the pages of these profusely illustrated annuals are windows to the history, soul, and spirit of both the exceptional land and people found in Michigan's remarkable U.P. If you seek some great writing about the northernmost of the state's two peninsulas look around for copies of the U.P. Reader. --Tom Powers, Michigan in Books "e;U.P. Reader offers a wonderful mix of storytelling, poetry, and Yooper culture. Here's to many future volumes!"e; --Sonny Longtine, author of Murder in Michigan's Upper Peninsula "e;As readers embark upon this storied landscape, they learn that the people of Michigan's Upper Peninsula offer a unique voice, a tribute to a timeless place too long silent."e; --Sue Harrison, international bestselling author of Mother Earth Father Sky The U.P. Reader is sponsored by the Upper Peninsula Publishers and Authors Association (UPPAA) a non-profit corporation. A portion of proceeds from each copy sold will be donated to the UPPAA for its educational programming.
FICTION
The Little Things
by J. L. Hagen
I stood in the checkout line at the South Haven, Michigan, Meijer store, waiting my turn. A short, dark-haired, copper-faced young woman was ringing up the shopper in front of me.
I placed my items on the conveyor, starting with six 1.5-liter bottles of wine. You get a discount if you buy four or more. Since my wife and I are on Social Security, we try to save a few dollars. As the bottles stopped at the scanner, the cashier glanced in my direction.
She giggled. “You ready to have party!”
I couldn’t place her accent. “You wanna come?” I winked and offered a seductive smile. Admittedly, it had faded a bit since I turned seventy, three years earlier.
She laughed again. “I just return from camp.” Then she called out, “Al-co-hol!”
A bearded employee at the next checkout lane glanced over his shoulder. “Okay, we’ll switch.”
She was underage and couldn’t ring up “adult beverages.”
I tried another peek at her face, but her back was turned. What camp had she referenced—church camp? Band camp? Had I actually flirted with a high school student? As I hustled out the exit door, I felt my face flush.
“Thank you for shopping at Meijer,” the greeter singsonged.
As I navigated the two-lane back to my house on Lake Michigan, the grocery store girl flashed into mind, and my neck prickled again. Then, another image replaced it—Hortencia Rosas. And Benny Jones.
“You’re still such a damn fool,” I mumbled.
A chain of free associations conjured up the little store Mrs. Beatrice Jones ran from the front of her house in Loyale, where I grew up. Despite its size, in the mid-fifties, when I first rode my bike over for a five-cent soda pop, it was a bustling business. It sat at the head of Gateway Lane. This mile-long street led from the main highway to the passenger ferry service between Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas. In that asphalt desert, especially in tourist season when the wait to board could take five hours, the store must have appeared like an oasis.
The Bridge from Loyale to “Down Below” had changed all that, but somehow the store survived. Mrs. Jones was kind to a fault and always willing to give a few bucks from the till to support causes. Her husband Alex, who packed around 300 pounds on his five-and-a-half-foot frame, shared not only her physical stature but her disposition as well. They were polite, cheerful, patriotic, and, no doubt, steadfast Catholics.
As was their son, Benny. He looked and spoke like his dad. Soft voice, round face and sandy blond, short-cropped hair. But Benny stood four inches shorter and weighed-in 150 pounds less. And on a football field, he ran a hundred times faster, eluding tackles on the way to his next touchdown. Anyone who tried to take him down regretted it for weeks after nursing painful sprains and bruises. I know. In 1965, when I was a sophomore and Benny a freshman, I faced him in a junior varsity practice scrimmage.
After we collided in a tackling drill, my brain swooned and my hand felt wobbly, almost numb. I held it up. My ring finger at the first joint made a sharp L-turn to the left over my pinky.
“Coach … coach!” I squawked. I extended my arm so he could see the terrifying injury.
He popped it into place. “You’re all right. Get back in line and go again.”
I shuffled my position so some other lineman could enjoy the dubious pleasure of hearing his ears ring for the next three days.
Benny’s center of gravity was so low, he was impossible to knock down, like trying to topple a one-hundred-fifty-pound tombstone. Two years later, he was the reason the Warriors went 8-0. He won the U.P.’s Most Valuable Player award.
That should have earned him a scholarship to play college football. And he should have had his pick of any girl at Loyale High School. But his classroom performance didn’t match his talent on the gridiron, and his height placed him at an apparent disadvantage when it came to opportunities for romance. That is until Hortencia Rosas enrolled after Christmas break.
“Did you see the new girl?” Maki exclaimed during lunch on the first day back.
“She’s in my Home Room,” Red said.
I turned to Maki. “What new girl? Is she—?”
“Wait ‘til you see her.”
“Yeah, she looks Indian,” Red added. “Must be boarding, over from the Island.”
“Nah, that’s not right,” Maki said. “Jeanie Marchant told me she’s staying with them.”
“She’s tiny,” Red said. “Can’t be over four-and-a-half feet—”
“She’s sixteen,” Maki butted in. “And get this, she’s Mexican—from Acapulco.”
“Acapulco?” I said, “What the heck is she doing in Loyale in the dead of winter?”
“Our new ‘foreign exchange student,’” he announced.
After lunch, I started for my history class. As I passed the principal’s office, Mr. Walton jumped up and motioned me in. He was a former marine—athletic build, short dark hair, serious as a double heart attack.
“Have a seat.” He directed me to the chair in front of his desk. “Mr. Nguyen tells me you’re his top student. He reminded me you won the French award last year.”
“Yeah.” I looked for some clue where this was going. “He’s a good teacher.”
“Yes, he is. That’s why we agree you’re the perfect candidate to help our new student.”
“New student?” I glanced at him, instantly on guard.
“Hortencia Rosas. She’s Mexican. Her English is limited. I want you to help her.”
“But I don’t speak Spanish.”
“No one does. It’s an opportunity. You’ll learn some Spanish and enhance your language skills. And you’ll help Hortencia and make her feel welcome. A perfect opportunity to demonstrate ‘The Warrior Way.’”
The Warrior Way. Day-in and day-out, every teacher, coach, and administrator drilled it into students’ heads. I had my own ideas about where they could stick The Warrior Way.
“So, when am I supposed to do this? I have classes.”
“You eat lunch, right?”
“Yeah, but—”
“No ‘yeah buts.’ Twice a week you sit with her and help her learn English. We’ll pay for your meal. You can start tomorrow—oh, and every Friday, I’ll need a report.”
I glanced up to see his jaw pulsing as he clenched and unclenched his teeth. I tried to think of an objection.
The bell rang.
“Okay, you need a late slip?”
“No, I’ll tell the teacher you wanted to see me.”
“Good. That’s settled, then.” He reached over and gave me a bone-crushing Marine handshake.
I cornered Jeanie in my U. S. History class. She gave me the lowdown.
LHS had never had an exchange program and, technically, still didn’t. What it did have was Victoria Marchant Trimble, the eldest daughter of the late Senator Daniel Marchant and the wife of Francis Trimble. Francis was the general manager of the Island ferry service. The Marchant family owned the company. And almost everything else in town with any value.
In the off-season, Vicky and Francis wintered in Acapulco. They stayed at their vacation residence in a complex managed by Xavier Rosas, Hortencia’s father. Vicky had talked him into sending her to Loyale for a semester and arranged for her to stay with Jeanie’s family.
“Being thrown in with five girls and three boys,” Jeanie said, “has to be a shock for an only child—and her English is pretty spotty.”
“So, what’s she like?”
“She seems real nice, but she’s very reserved. We’re hoping as she learns more English, she’ll open up.”
“Mr. Walton roped me into helping her,” I said.
She threw me an odd glance. “You speak Spanish?”
“No, but I’ve wanted to learn,” I fibbed. “It’s an opportunity for both of us. So, maybe tomorrow at lunch …”
She pursed her lips and stared down her nose at me. “Okay, look for us.”
Most of the girls at Loyale High didn’t interest me. Jeanie might have been the exception, but Maki had dibs on her. So, a good-looking girl from a foreign country sparked my imagination.
But I wasn’t the only one who had apparently noticed her.
The next day, I searched the cafeteria. Jeanie and Hortencia sat at the rear of the lunchroom at an empty table. As I headed their way, my usual schoolmates started a chorus of cat calls. I ignored them, hoping it would fade. Finally, I turned and shot them a warning glare—Knock it off, or there would be hell to pay.
“Your pals seem unhappy you ignored them to sit with us,” Jeanie said, smirking.
I cast a timid glance at Hortencia. “Don’t pay attention to them. They think they are making a funny joke. ‘Ha ha.’”
She leaned toward Jeanie. “Que es ‘joke?’”
Over the next couple of months, Hortencia and I met every few days in the lunchroom. As she learned some conversational English, she spoke more, but she was shy. She had attended private girls’ schools; schools supervised by humorless nuns, not unlike most of my Catholic classmates.
She radiated beauty, a young goddess. Thick, black hair framing a tiny, burnished face with high cheekbones and deep brown lips. Eyes as dark and rich as Columbian coffee, teeth as bright as Michigan snow, and a figure as shapely as an image chiseled 3,000 years ago on the temple wall of an Aztec pyramid.
I grappled with how to overcome her hesitation. Several times, I considered whether to give up on her. But I had agreed to help her learn English, so I...
| Erscheint lt. Verlag | 1.5.2025 |
|---|---|
| Sprache | englisch |
| Themenwelt | Literatur ► Romane / Erzählungen |
| Geisteswissenschaften ► Sprach- / Literaturwissenschaft | |
| Schlagworte | American • Anthologies • Fiction • General • History • Ia • IL • In • KS • literary collections • Local • mi • Midwest • MN • Mo • multiple authors • Nd • Ne • Oh • SD • State • United States • WI |
| ISBN-13 | 979-8-89656-045-6 / 9798896560456 |
| Informationen gemäß Produktsicherheitsverordnung (GPSR) | |
| Haben Sie eine Frage zum Produkt? |
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