The Missing Piece of Charlie O'Reilly by Rebecca Ansari

He didn’t notice what was there, didn’t lean in close or whisper anything. It wasn’t how he behaved with the other girls who worked for him. Sometimes Tommy would buy her a cola from the machine or sit at her table during her lunch breaks. Gave her more shifts than anyone else and complimented her work. Tommy was her boss, her supervisor, married with two young boys. How maybe if her nose was different, things would be different at the plant too. She lifted herself up from the driver’s seat, turned her head to the right, studied the outline of her profile, and tried to imagine her face with a different nose. It didn’t show her whole face, just the eyes. Sometimes she could swear she heard the chickens-that sudden desperate flap of wing, as if flight could really take place there.īefore Red backed out onto the road, she looked at herself in the rear-view mirror.

It was almost like what happened in the next room didn’t happen at all. By the time the chickens got to her, they were already dead, their eyes closed tight like they were sleeping.

It was her job to pluck the feathers, make sure the chickens were smooth when they left her. Red worked at the plant like most of the others in town. It would be the best-looking thing there, and it would belong to her. And the thought of that big red truck in the parking lot at the plant. It might have been the colour that drew Red to the truck. They call it a pickup truck, but she never picked anything up in it, just herself. A thing she had seen on someone’s front lawn, a For Sale sign taped to the windshield, handwritten in black marker. She never failed to make her morning shift on time. Red revved the engine, impatient, having to wait for the truck to warm up.

THE SKY WAS BLACK like the middle of an eye. “As the daughter of refugees, I’m able to finally see myself in stories.” -Angela So, Electric Literature Read Excerpt As one of Thammavongsa’s characters says, “All we wanted was to live.” And in these stories, they do-brightly, ferociously, unforgettably.Unsentimental yet tender, taut and visceral, How to Pronounce Knife announces Souvankham Thammavongsa as one of the most striking voices of her generation. In spare, intimate prose charged with emotional power and a sly wit, she paints an indelible portrait of watchful children, wounded men, and restless women caught between cultures, languages, and values. Henry Award winner Souvankham Thammavongsa focuses on characters struggling to make a living, illuminating their hopes, disappointments, love affairs, acts of defiance, and above all their pursuit of a place to belong. In her stunning debut story collection, O. A mother teaching her daughter the art of worm harvesting. A housewife learning English from daytime soap operas. A woman plucking feathers at a chicken processing plant. A failed boxer painting nails at the local salon.

The Missing Piece of Charlie O'Reilly by Rebecca Ansari