THIRTY NIGHTS OF REKINDLED FLAMES

fiftee

standing next to

y?" I say

per building with my hand. A purple feather a

pirate?

hing on top. His chest is bare, flabby, and white with a fishbelly. When the pungent smell of beer reaches my nostrils, my nose naturally wrinkles. A tiny sigh slips from my mouth. It's likely that the man had a wi

see a limp strand of green b

tion for tourists visiting the city. As it has been for decades, at every annual pirate festival. Hell, as the publisher o

illage the Village

. Pirates, touri

icu

her in America-am the cleanup crew. On the day I'm supposed to look

es

't need this, not today. Taking a few steps, I prod the pirate's forearm with my

ing man. I take a few steps back and grimace. It's all I can do to contain my annoyance t

't have a potential investor stepping over a passed-

tch. It's eight-thirty, and the morning air is as foul as the beer that's in the plastic cup sitting

spapers into the trucks at three every morning. Moving the guy ourselves might be quicker than relying on the local sheriff's department, which hasn't

sticky curtain. Why had I taken the time to blow it straight when I could have slept for an extra half-ho

idity's

hair in a bun, and pretend I never saw the drunk. Feign ignorance when the vice

cowardly. A real woman looks a

hour? Over the past two weeks, since rumors about our impending bankruptcy started to swirl in the city's alt-weekly newspaper and on a loca

stucco behemoth built by my great-grandfather. To me, the building al

gly building, but it's my ugly buildin

and the light of the letter S on the building's sign is no longer illuminated. The time

mber one on

ar

-first. She is carrying a child. Very, very pregnant. Her blonde hair is pulled back into a ponytail, and her tann

y forehead, and my thumb circles my temple. I should have abstained from my se

comes running towards me. Why is she in such a

out of here. Do you know i

ng, did you see the

spaper. To make it into a manag

paper, get ready, and guzzle a gallon of c

da Cap

" I snatched th

the ar

tes. I'm waiting for the VP to show u

to the bottom of page one with a chubby finger. Pregnancy and humidity have

tal. As part of the $800 million cash deal, MDA will assume all of Florida Capital's investments and continue to expand its acqui

look up into Diana's wide, blue eyes and shrug. "So? It sounds like this is

nd smacks my arm with

o you think you, me, and Larry can haul him across the street? Wa

aragraph. Top left column." Diana's lilting S

A backs midmarket companies in a variety of industries, including media, consumer and business services, consumer products, distribution, a

htens. My eyes read the name five tim

half of Florida. I fan myself with the newspaper and l

t's the sa

s." For a second, I suspect a vein in

Worse than ba

_