Gordon Laws

Your Mom’s the Coolest

The girl lives on the corner of a street in one of the newer neighborhoods south of his. Her street T heads another street, and across that street is a large drainage ditch. The young man, Ted, and Greg are all riding in the ice-blue minivan; the young man’s mom is driving. They turn downContinue reading “Your Mom’s the Coolest”

That’s an Auspicious Beginning

They are playing the middle school city championship at Buc Stadium, which can hold fifteen thousand fans and is home to most of the city’s weekly high school football games on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday nights. They are used to playing on dirt fields surrounded by a fence that parents stand behind. Most of theContinue reading “That’s an Auspicious Beginning”

Notes on A Valley Full of Bones

A couple of years ago, I got to really thinking about Book of Mormon character Captain Moroni. Following the concept to liken the scriptures to ourselves, I started to wonder if we would even recognize a character like him today, and if we did, would we be okay with him? Are we comfortable with theContinue reading “Notes on A Valley Full of Bones”

There’s Bambi

Early morning hours, the darkness before dawn. They had purchased a plane ticket the night before and he will head to Corpus Christi later today. The man is somewhere between wakefulness and deep sleep. He is walking through a nondescript space, no plants or animals or natural light or darkness. His father is walking aheadContinue reading “There’s Bambi”

His Son Is Trying to Kill Him

Their son does not like anything the man does for him. He hates having his diaper changed, cries like he is being killed. When the man goes to give the boy his first bath, the man’s mother in law insists, “Babies love their baths!” But Grant does not: he screams bloody murder through it. OnContinue reading “His Son Is Trying to Kill Him”

Blood In

The young man is a freshman at Carroll High School. He has finished lunch and has gone up to his locker. Carroll has an outdoor hall system, and the lockers are in un-air-conditioned rooms at the ends of each of the five wings. His locker is on the first wing upstairs. The young man isContinue reading “Blood In”

How Considerest Thou the Inch Worm

He sits on a fallen log and stares at the leaves and pine needles around his feet. “Father in Heaven, why hast thou dealt with me so? Why has the XX business failed when thou didst tell me that it would dwarf the rest of the business? And I don’t understand what came over meContinue reading “How Considerest Thou the Inch Worm”

It’s Terrible That His Dad Is Gone

He has not seen Joey at Church for months. Even when he was coming, it wasn’t often. Usually he came with his mom. The young man thought he had seen Joey’s father maybe twice. So it surprises him when they are riding home from baseball and his mother says, “Dad won’t be home till lateContinue reading “It’s Terrible That His Dad Is Gone”

I Will End You

The first team defense is pulled out, and he heads back to the group of players watching the second team. There’s Kevin John, wearing the jv white jersey. “Kevin, you were dicking my brother around in the bathroom yesterday. “Huh? Oh, Stephen said something funny and we were laughing. “No. You had a group ofContinue reading “I Will End You”

As Long as You Didn’t Start It

He is in sixth grade now. Few things have changed for him at Sanders Elementary. He still wears corduroy pants and khaki button-down shirts. On one arm, he has two bracelets, names of men missing in action from Vietnam. On the other arm, he has one bracelet with the name of a man missing inContinue reading “As Long as You Didn’t Start It”