JOHN LEVY







Jimmy’s Girlfriends and His Late Mother

(for my Father)



It is the third call from Jimmy in one day. Sam tells him that he has talked to Mike, Jimmy’s probation officer.

“Yeah, what’s Mike got to say?”

“Mike says he won’t recommend reinstatement on probation because you absconded five months ago and picked up that misdemeanor charge for marijuana when you were arrested. Plus, when you saw the police you ran and they had to chase you.”

“It’s up to Judge Goosed Berries, right? Not Mike!”

“Judge Dandurry. Yes. But Mike’s recommendation will influence Judge Dandurry. And it’s not as if I have a magic wand I can wave over Mike’s head to change his mind.”

“It’s your job to get me out of jail! Margaret got paid back, Ellen saw to that. Margaret got every penny back.”

“That’s why you got a good plea, Jimmy. That has already been taken into account. But you did steal checks from Margaret and she didn’t get paid back until I cut that deal for you and Ellen paid Margaret. Now what we are dealing with is that you reported to your probation officer once, only once, then went on the run.”

“Yeah, yeah, you’re talking like a prosecutor, man. Mike wanted me to live in a halfway house. No way. I want to go live with Ellen again. Or Katie. I’m not sure.”

“Even if the judge would let you out of jail, you wouldn’t live with Ellen again. She called Mike this morning and told him about her felonies." {continued}

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The poet John Levy makes his living as a public defender in Tucson, Arizona. He has begun to write fiction for the reading pleasure of his father, and the above story is his first from a work-in-progress: "Moon Ache, Crack Cocaine in a Boom Box". These stories will be loosely based around the State Criminal Defense System. John is the author of many books of poetry: Among the Consonants (1980) as well as a book of prose We Don't Kill Snakes Where We Come From: two years in a Greek village (1994). A new book of poems from First Intensity has recently been released — Oblivion, Tyrants, Crumbs.