‘Between Boys,’ Other Voices 47: Special Issue: All-Chicago, 2007
“What’s Yours?,” Other Voices 36: Spring/Summer 2002
—Winner of Illinois Arts Council 2003 Literary Award
Excerpt from ‘What’s Yours?’
“Sometimes, she stole someone else’s identity. The best way was to get access to the internal address book of some institution. A university was ideal. It had plenty of numbers people hardly ever answered. You made a few calls looking for a professor’s answering machine with a recording that easily sounded like you. After writing the professor’s department and title in your little notepad, you tested out the newly acquired role.
You visited a museum, neglecting to bring a purse. At the ticket counter, where the sign announces “Educators: Free,” you stated your name, your educational institution, and fretted over having forgotten your wallet and professional identification – with your purse. But you pressed them, please, to call “your” number; they’ll hear it’s you. You’ve come to preview the museum for a class. They like educators. You sound authentic and frazzled. In you go. You are Estella Snyder, professor of Biology. The real Estella couldn’t be less hurt. This was taking what the world had to give.”