Remoras, from Drift by Victoria Patterson

It can be so hard to write a short story, one that shines and holds your attention for thirty pages, especially when a writer writes in the opposite sex. Ms. Patterson delivers a narrator who for the time being is called ‘Nice Boy’. We meet him as he starts his descent into a waiter job at a restaurant. Jim, his boss, a strange man who runs his life on cigarettes and red wine is full of attitude. Patterson treats us to the local color of Newport Beach, California, where the stories in this collection take place.

Remora is a kind of fish that attaches itself to a shark, (whales, turles, manta rays as well) and you can enjoy this little detail when you come to it. ‘Nice Boy’ feels like a character out of my own High School, wealthy kid from the right side of the tracks who hasn’t known hunger. He’s dodging his own gilded cage and finds comfort in an Armenian beauty that is hired by Jim the same day he is. It was hard not to sink my teeth into these pages and devour this story like a succulent piece of prime rib, especially when ‘Nice Boy’ ends up at a rich kids house after a night of waiting tables and we get to feel Patterson’s take on enjoying a hot tub. I was so impressed by a little detail, ‘Nice Boy’ goes to the bathroom to get towels and his hand slaps the wall of the bathroom as he looks for the light switch. It’s something simple like this that makes me want to stop people on the street and tell them about these stories.

Patterson writes ‘Nice Boy’ like a man would write about a woman he knew well. She gives him plenty of room to explain himself, his greed, and his keen ability to avoid being sexually categorized, “ambivalent” is how he likes to think of himself. As a writer you can spend your entire life hoping that someday you’ll write a story as good as this one, maybe you will, but until then, seek this out.

-JR