All Serena wants is lovely green. Collards, Dandelions, Lacinato Kale, Spinach, and Basil sautéed in olive oil with garlic and tiny tomatoes. Never onions, though she is fond of scallions and chives. White and purple onions stink and burn tongues and give bad breath and bring tears to eyes. She likes other things: snappy expensive shoes, stylish old-timey pocketbooks, a gorgeous bowl of rice pasta with the above mentioned greens and Manchego cheese, medium bodied California red wine, strong fair trade coffee with a teaspoon of 1% milk, and peace and clean water and a safe home for everyone. Serena despises the filthy color of money. That shade of green turns otherwise honest folks into dishonest folks. Serena is a money launderer. She soaks her money in the bathroom sink, and then clothes pins it to a line that stretches from her kitchen to her bedroom. She irons her bills crisp. And yes, if you wondered, she washes her coins in the kitchen sink, dries them on the windowsill. Serena does her part for the environment and the economy. She uses only clean money to buy her beloved greens.


Lori Lynn Turner received her MFA from The New School.  She is a student advisor for The Feminist Writers Organization, and an administrator/program planner at the School of Writing, The New School. She is working on a non-fiction book titled It’s In the House. This is an excerpt from a longer piece in progress.

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