The narrator married a man in a Berlin bathroom who drank beer and played risky games like poker and Russian roulette. He died young, with his funeral in a church and gravestone made of granite. The narrator's heart was broken by a man in Berlin who kept to himself, grew herbs, and disappeared in the mornings without explanation. This man was found to run away by train and have many secrets. The narrator broke a promise in Berlin to a woman who stayed for hours in grocery stores and played with strangers at night. This woman quit her club lifestyle when she ran out of strangers to be with and had no more secrets.

1. “BERLIN SIDE STORY”
(Published by The Central Review in fall 2016)
i got married in a bathroom in Berlin. he was a broken kind of pretty. convenience store boy,
always called me on the phone. he had a nervous habit of tearing the label off the bottles of
lagers he drank. when he went out, i wouldn’t see him come in and i never looked. i never really
asked him about it. i found out he played poker russian roulette style, but i only found out
because he didn’t call me on the phone. he didn’t have any secrets because i never had any
questions. his funeral took place in the church and his gravestone was bought in granite.
i had my heart broken in Berlin. he was always looking away. kept the same list for the grocery
store in his wallet, never let me in without knocking first. he had a curious talent for keeping a
garden of herbs and spices growing. when he slept over, i wouldn’t find him in the morning and i
always called him on the phone. he had a different explanation every time i asked him about it. i
found out he ran away train hop style, but i only found out because i let myself in without
knocking first. he had a lot of secrets because i had a lot of questions. his friends said he started
playing cards at the same bar where he bought a gun in the bathroom.
i broke a promise in Berlin. she was carved out of marble. stayed in the same aisle of the grocery
store for hours, always out at night playing games with strangers. she had a january vision of an
intimate moment with a nectar boy in the bathroom. when she called on the phone, she had
feelings. there was never anything to ask about. i found out she quit the club lifestyle, but i found
out it was only because she ran out of strangers. she had no secrets because i could answer all the
questions. she walked out the door without looking back and never let herself be bought again.