Out of Joint

By Belea T. Keeney

Mitchell Tanner, an ex-convict struggling to get his life back on track hasn't faced his family in year. Not since his conviction, not since his move to Indiana, not since moving in with his half-sister. When he attends an uncles' funeral in Tampa, old hurts come back to slap him in the face. Take a journey to a tropical paradise ... where sometimes paradise is just an illusion.

This story was a finalist for the 2010 Florida Review's Editor Choice Award and an Honorable Mention at the 2007 Writers in Paradise competition.

• Language: English
• Publisher: JMS Books LLC
• Release date: Jun 19, 2011
• ISBN: 9781611521351

Belea T. Keeney

Belea T. Keeney was born and raised in the balmy tropics of Florida and still dreams of velvet-humid nights, the smell of orange blossoms, and the croak of alligators. Her writing has appeared in Florida Horror: Dark Tales from the Sunshine State, The Beast Within, Sniplits, Boundoff, WordKnot, along with many other outlets. Her stories have placed in the Writers in Paradise Short Story competition, the 2010 Florida Review Editor's Choice Award, the 2007 Left Coast Writing Contest, and the 2011 Saints & Sinners Literary Festival. She works as an editor and spends her time off collecting caladiums, feeding birds, and, of course, reading. For more information, visit beleakeeney.com.

Book preview

Out of Joint

By Belea T. Keeney

Published by JMS Books LLC

Visit jms-books.com for more information

Copyright 2011 Belea T. Keeney

ISBN: 978-1-61152-135-1

Cover Credits: Dafnanb

Used under a Standard Royalty-Free License.

Cover Design: J.M. Snyder

All rights reserved.

WARNING: This book is not transferable. It is for your own personal use. If it is sold, shared, or given away, it is an infringement of the copyright of this work and violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.

No portion of this book may be transmitted or reproduced in any form, or by any means, without permission in writing from the publisher, with the exception of brief excerpts used for the purposes of review.

This book is for ADULT AUDIENCES ONLY. It contains substantial sexually explicit scenes and graphic language which may be considered offensive by some readers. Please store your files where they cannot be accessed by minors.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are solely the product of the author’s imagination and/or are used fictitiously, though reference may be made to actual historical events or existing locations. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Published in the United States of America.

* * * *

Out of Joint

By Belea T. Keeney

Mitchell Tanner steered his twelve-year-old Altima into the funeral home parking lot, found a spot beneath a dying magnolia tree, and lit a joint. His frayed shirt sleeves pulled back to reveal barbed wire tattoos curled around each wrist. He left the lugging engine on and ran the AC against a Tampa October that pressed down solid as a slab.

Florida. Fuck.

In his rearview mirror, groups of people