honea byrne

“Well, you have the opportunity to do something different. I got a question for you. Don’t answer it out loud. Don’t answer it for me. Answer it for you,” Thomas said. “You really get off on telling people what to do don’t you,” Ricky interrupted. “When was the last time that you?” Thomas paused and then threw a pen and a pad at Ricky, “Wrote to your son?” “I didn’t mean for it to happen,” Ricky replied with his eyes full of tears.  “What are you after?” Thomas asked. “Not even sure if I ever was in love,” he said with a tear streaming slowly down his cheek. “It really wasn’t supposed to happen.” It was a college party. He was there with his frat buddies. But he as more interested in making money. “I don’t even know you anymore!” His girl since high school scorned. “You really think I care? I can get any woman I want. Ain’t that right? Come here you.” He motioned his hand, waved her to him. She was very susceptible since she took what he called, ‘A piece of white heaven.’ Five minu...

“Boy you gotta be strong!” “Push till you can’t push anymore,” Ricky told the scared white boy,aka the walking teardrop, as he spotted him on the bench press. By now Ricky had enough clout to be a part of the ____________ gang. Yet Ricky was suspicious that a new God of his own understanding made a way for ‘Lil Burn the whiteboy,’ Bernard to join their gang. Ricky’s word was enough for Bernard to be part of the gang. The whites had rejected, Lil Burn,  weeks back when Ricky stopped a delivery. Ricky kept a cautious eye over the yard. “See Burn, you train your body to train your mind.” Burn noticed Moon watching him from a distance.  Sometime back: Before the whiteboy was more fearful than he had ever been in his life. Ten of the Peckerwoods surrounded him, “Boy we gonna have to teach you. You ain’t supposed to betray your own race." They were in one of those rooms that had faded white and yellow cigarette stained walls. Had church pews in the jail classrooms. The pews were hea...

“Those words haunted you, Ricky?” Ricky replied by rolling his eyes. Yet now Thomas Moon noticed those body language expressions less and less. Was it because Thomas knew it was a defense mechanism. “Ricky, I understand that you’re working with the Chaplain more now.” “Well, I wouldn’t do it if it were a white chaplain.” “Is it important to you really?” “Of course it is.” “Why?” “My grandfather was killed by a cracker.” “You ever seen that movie, ‘Malcolm X?’ The one by Spike Lee?” “You actually going to tell me about it?!” Ricky screamed. Then Thomas turned his head to the guard. “It’s about time for me to leave anyway.” “Well, in one of the final scenes a white lady was telling him about Jesus. And even before that it showed Malcom going to Mecca and all races worshiped ‘a God of their own understanding.' God loves you Ricky. And he’s always got a good plan for you." The boy was scared. Really didn’t belong there. Does anyone really belong there? Ricky’s eyes were following ...

  He prayed to God to grant him the patience. Then he laughed when thinking that’s why he was placed in the job as a prison counselor. The hissing of the fan taught him to listen more intently to his patients. He put a nicer chair in his office: a thirty-year-old small leather black office seat-That’s what the patients called “The best chair in the jail.” As he uncurled his fingers he realized in an instant that the almost skeletal hand uncurled of the Ferryman. He placed the coin in the Ferryman’s hand. Then the Ferryman motioned his robed arm for him to get on the ferry. “Thomas Moon,” the patient read from the name tag. Thomas looked at the patient’s folder. Usually he would have read his patient’s folder, and be better prepared. His name was “Ricky White,” he chuckled at the irony. Said to him “Ricky White, you’re more than just a number. You’re more than a statistic to me.”   He already knew from the patient’s voice that this would be an interesting session. He ...

  There’s a river that passes through hell. To get across that river one must pay the ferryman (Charon). One of the items, energies set free was from an AA coin. When one leaves the Earth he/she must pay the Charon a coin. In other worlds (God’s Time is different from manmade time). The energies of the chip went to a father’s wake. He remembered a few years ago, hearing his father talk to his stepmom, “I just don’t understand why he came to Thanksgiving high out of his mind again. I’ve done everything I could do to help him.” The son remembered being drunk and high when he called his father on the telephone, “It’s your fault that I don’t have anything. It’s your fault my girlfriends leave me. It’s your fault because you treated mom so bad. It doesn’t matter how much money you have. You failed at life. That new wife you got will leave you too. How dare you treat your wife’s kids better than you treat me.” He called his father a lot with those type of sentiments. But this tim...

  Times countless, to me, that I watched my lit candle flicker among the smoke of my lit incense. I have watched smoke form a face inside the cowl hood from the cloak. Next, the smoke gathered around the base, light fog settling on the lands, especially near water, water where spirits gather. Then the smoke rose around the flame. I’m remembering, “The Now Of The Then.” As the smoke around the flame-The Moon among the dark clouds. Did I cause such destruction? To ponder that question is unfortunately opening his/herself to be their own god: A symptom of what modern day magicians (psychologists, counselors, and such) would call a psychosis. When the Night’s Eye shows itself-all sorts of things happen. The Sun eclipsing The Harvest Moon, The Blue Moon, or a Solstice Moon.    On this particular Christmas night, the moon was blood red. The black void of the cloak came  during the 13 th  hour. She’s a wild one. “I have something that scares me. Or I have ...

  “The answer ugh?” Her father said to her. Then laughed. She knew he knew something that she didn’t know. Would she ever know? The sun-the light in the middle of dark clouds didn’t move. “I think she’s dead?” He asked trying to sound comical-had that nervous laugh. Had that type of buzz when everything’s funny or at least he hoped for that.     She meant everything to me. Even though I didn’t know her for long. “You know Zeppline stole a lot of songs,” the employer said. “Dude, there’s only so many riffs, melodies, and rhythms that a musician can play.” The dealer said. Then took another pull off of the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ bong. “’Nobodies fault but mine’ was originally by Blind Willie Johson. ‘When the Levey Breaks’ was by Memphis Mimi and Kansas City Joe. They were Mississippi Delta musicians. The employee insisted, ”Squeeze my Lemon,” The dealer said. Then he started singing with Plant’s vocals from the loud vinyl player.   I know it’s been said m...

    “This is the plan. We drive the car on ninety. We park it in a spot across from the hospital. Then we put her on the beach. And we going to wear gloves so that there will be no finger prints,” the dealer instructed. “We? But how are we going to get back here?” The employee asked. “Oh yea. Good thinking. You’re going to drive her car. Put gloves on. Then you gonna drag her body to the beach. Somebody will find her and we won’t get blamed,” the dealer said. Then he took out a huge fold of money wrapped by a huge rubber band. Unwrapped it and handed the employee a hundred dollar bill. “May I see your license,” the police man asked. Well this one was polite. May work in his favor. Handed him his license then kept his hands low so that the policeman couldn’t see his trembling. “What are you doing out so late?” The employee thought about all of the scenarios. What would be the best and worst? It may not be what it looks like. “Why you got those gloves?” “Oh, I just got...

    “The answer ugh?” Her father said to her. Then laughed. She knew he knew something that she didn’t know. Would she ever know? The sun-the light in the middle of dark clouds didn’t move. “I think she’s dead?” He asked trying to sound comical-had that nervous laugh. Had that type of buzz when everything’s funny or at least he hoped for that.     She meant everything to me. Even though I didn’t know her for long. “You know Zeppline stole a lot of songs,” the employer said. “Dude, there’s only so many riffs, melodies, and rhythms that a musician can play.” The dealer said. Then took another pull off of the ‘Alice in Wonderland’ bong. “’Nobodies fault but mine’ was originally by Blind Willie Johson. ‘When the Levey Breaks’ was by Memphis Mimi and Kansas City Joe. They were Mississippi Delta musicians. The employee insisted, ”Squeeze my Lemon,” The dealer said. Then he started singing with Plant’s vocals from the loud vinyl player.   I know it’s be...

  She once heard during high talk, that there was this thing called astral projection. High talk are those conversations you have when you’re in those awkward situations when you don’t know the company your around, or you know the person, or persons you’re around but you really wish you didn’t have to be around them. The only thing you have in common is getting high.   She saw a man holding a tiny baby very reluctantly. “Well baby, you better get used to it,” a teen-age girl said as she lit her cigarette. The father, holding the baby, stared back at her with anger. “I been pulling Mommy duty for hours waiting on your sorry ass.” “She named you Mary Madaline because she figured it would straighten me out. Out of spite I called you ‘Maddi,’” The man turned his head to her. All of the peeling wall paper of the room fell off of the walls. She was in darkness again. “Daddy?” After she asked she was walking side by side with the man. She looked around and saw stones and flowers....

                                                                                       It depends on what direction you see the light to casts the shadows you want to see. The melted candle  wax molded together and stuck to the candle holder. The hooded figure and the handheld bottle of filled with holy water projected a large, hooded apparition by a temple; as the Los Santa Muerte glass with candle inside shined strange faces on the wall. Making it look like clouds with faces around large, hooded apparition by a temple. The sage is used to cleanse the area of wickedness. However, the cleansing power maybe, unfortunately contained by the Peruvian pr...

 "So how's Lil Nicky doing?" He asked. He was wearing a long sleeve black shirt that had an eyeball on the chest part. "He's fine. Just got him in daycare. Can't stay long, got him in his crib. Hopefully, he won't climb out of it." She replied. Then he got up and walked down the hallway to a small fridge about two feet high and a foot wide. He kept it at a temperature of about 45 to keep the batch fresh. Had a padlock on the door-he kept it there thinking that if he ever got raided the cops wouldn't be able to get in it. She heard the key go into the lock. Heard it twist and unlock. And this was her moment of happiness for the day.  She was calculating the time the whole high event. She'd have a conversation for no longer than ten minutes. Then maybe two hours in the backroom, "The Waiting Room," is what he called it. She could never remember his name. He was super nice. Told herself he actually cared about her with the questions he...

  “Is there nothing I can pay to be right again?” Maddie cried as she pleaded. It was the most anguished cry she could ever remember. Like morning sun rays piercing through the cracks of walls, his face reemerged from the blackness of the hood. He looked down on her. He looked down on her. She remembered that look. Had she remembered it before? Her mother had long dirty blonde hair. Had many wrinkles in her once silky smooth face-For the way time had its way with people was catching up to her. She looked at him and he looked down on ‘Baby Maddie.’ “We got the good life now, Joe. It was a nice home. A bit aged outside but still attractive with the ionic columns on the sides of the entrance to the front door. Had beautiful marble floors and cypress wood on the walls. There was a new couch, ugly now a days, that was orange leather. Even had a large state of the art new colored Zenith television and vinyl, eight track player combo. The fridge was always full of food. Maddie had trave...