Language Barrier by Thomas Cooper art by Gay Degani I'm avoiding Jorge, the man without the tongue. In the kitchen, he slouches on the counter next to the wet bar, checkered flatcap pulled low over his eyes. When I glance over, he's watching me, making shapes with his hands. For the past five years he's come up at the stroke of midnight and wrapped me in his arms, like we're kindred spirits. Brethren. Tonight he's staring at me as if he wants to repeat history, but I'm not going to let it happen. It's a family party, my wife's side. Meringue music, dancing, cousins of cousins, friends of friends. Arepas and pastillos and drinks, lots of them. People are getting shitfaced and a mustached man is doing a fandango with a plastic Christmas tree. Everybody's South American except me. They smile and pinch my side, call me Barba Roja. That's usually the extent of our communication because there's a language barrier. My wife's on the patio beside the pool and men are checking her out. I can't blame them. She seems to glow under the bug zapper, skinny brown arms and long black hair catching blue light. I wave and she waves back. Then she laughs into her cell phone. "Whatever you do," I told her before the party, "don't let Jorge ambush me after the ball drops." She promised. There's nothing wrong with Jorge, except for the missing tongue, and the fact that he follows me around as if we know one another. I don't know why he's taken such a shining to me, but he has. Once I asked his mother how he lost his tongue and she told me it fell out after his wife died. His childhood sweetheart, guerilla gunfire in Quibdó. Jorge didn't talk for ten years after that and one day his tongue was gone, like a mollusk out of a shell. Bullshit, I assumed. Fairytale stuff. Now Jorge steps up to me and semaphores with his hands. It looks like he's building an invisible birdhouse. "You want something to eat, Jorge?" I say, checking my watch. Still, with the hands. "Want a drink?" I ask. He shows me his palms. "I'm going to the bathroom, Jorge," I say. But the voices are already growing shrill, bodies drawing closer together, men and women counting down. On the patio, my wife smiles into her phone, tucking a wisp of hair behind her ear, beautiful even this far away. I move forward but Jorge steps closer, gesturing in a language he thinks I understand. Read the interview. Thomas Cooper lives in New Orleans. His short stories currently appear or are forthcoming in Oxford American, Willow Springs, New Orleans Review, Sonora Review, Quick Fiction, and Dzanc Book's anthology "Best of the Web 2010." His chapbook of short fiction, "Phantasmagoria," was published by Keyhole Press last summer. Gay Degani is a staff editor for SmokeLong Quarterly. She has published in journals and anthologies including two The Best of Every Day Fiction editions and her own collection, Pomegranate Stories. All content in SmokeLong Quarterly copyright 2003-2012 by its authors. Issue Thirty (December 22, 2010): Eulogy for Maria Mamani, Fire-eater by Ed Bull «» Language Barrier by Thomas Cooper «» A Goblet Falls by Barbara Diehl «» Life Lesson by Damian Dressick «» Yams by Gary Fincke «» How We Handle Our Midnights by Charles Hale «» The Corn by Kathleen Hale «» Amelia by Aubrey Hirsch «» Inside by Ashley Inguanta «» About Things That Are Lost and the Places That Things Get Lost Andrea Kneeland «» The Good Woman by Sara Levine «» Buckaroo by Ravi Mangla «» Her New Friend Jesus by Michael Meyers «» Conjugation by Jen Michalski «» Dairy Queen by Jennifer Pashley «» What Do You Do? by Dariel Suarez «» Up, Up and Away by Art Taylor «» Three Jokes by M. Thompson «» Between Budapest and Dying by Dean Marshall Tuck «» Crash-o-rama! by Chris Wiewiora «» Thirty-Word Story Contest Winners «» Interviews: Ed Bull «» Thomas Cooper «» Barbara Diehl «» Damian Dressick «» Gary Fincke «» Charles Hale «» Kathleen Hale «» Aubrey Hirsch «» Ashley Inguanta «» Andrea Kneeland «» Sara Levine «» Ravi Mangla «» Michael Meyers «» Jen Michalski «» Jennifer Pashley «» Dariel Suarez «» Art Taylor «» M. Thompson «» Dean Tuck «» Chris Wiewiora «» Cover Art "Holiday Wishes" by Marty D. Ison «» Letter From the Editors Interested in subscribing to SmokeLong's weekly newsletter? Click here. An email should be created. Send it as is, and you'll be subscribed. If the link does not work for you, send an email to imailsrv@smokelong.com with Subscribe slq-info in the body of the email (no subject is necessary). You'll receive updates detailing the release of new issues, new reading periods, contests, etc. We do not make our mail list available to anyone else.