Read My New Short Story "Wigger Gets Started (1990)"

Being a kid is hard and always has been. High school is a time of self-discovery, growth, and often raw vulnerability. In "Wigger Gets Started," the opening short story from my upcoming collection, "Wigger," we meet a freshman attending a new high school in a strange state, navigating the jagged edges of identity, cultural dislocation, and the painful realities of growing up in 1990s America.

The story follows Wigger, an unnamed 14-year-old boy uprooted from an urban childhood steeped in the rhythms of hip-hop culture to a small suburban town in Ohio. His journey is a visceral exploration of belonging and survival in a world that sees him as a small outsider. Through this lens, we witness the collision of urban grit and suburban sterility—and the quiet resilience that comes with it.

Wigger Gets Started offers a raw and unflinching look at how cultural and personal identities collide. The full story, told through these ten interconnected short stories scattered throughout the decade of the 1990s, will become a richer tapestry—layered with humor, heartbreak, and moments of unexpected human connection that resonate far beyond adolescence.

Here’s a teaser:

“All these boys are bigger than Wigger, so he keeps quiet and swallows every insult, but the mercury in his angry thermometer is rising. He dresses in focused silence and tests the lock numbers before hanging it through the hole of his shut locker and latching it. The problems started almost immediately during calisthenics, which he had never done before. Sure, jumping jacks and the simple shit, but burpees? Never. He was learning on the fly and looked small, bouncing, and ridiculously uncoordinated...”

This moment captures the relentless tension of Wigger’s world—a young boy outmatched by his environment yet determined to hold his own. It’s not just a coming-of-age story; it reflects the silent battles many of us fight during our formative years.

For paid subscribers, you’ll also discover the layers of complexity in Wigger’s relationships, particularly a pivotal interaction that sparks a turning point in his struggle for acceptance.

Click below to read the full story and experience the raw humanity that lies within Wigger.

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