Jake Brown's Anomalies

by Arend Smits

About the Author: In 2023, Arend Smits won the inaugural Goeken Prize for the Best Dutch Language Short Crime Story of the year. Born and raised in The Netherlands, Smit now lives and writes in Germany.

Excerpt

Translated from the Dutch by Josh Pachter

Late on a pleasant Friday afternoon, as I drink beer with Jake Brown on his front porch, I realize it’s something of a miracle we’re sitting here together. If it had been left up to a couple of our city’s notables, he’d still be sitting somewhere very different. And as you’ll see, my wife Jen and I came very close to never being in a position to sit anywhere, ever again.

I’ve been visiting with Jake for decades, starting in 1992, the year after Jen and I moved to—well, I’m going to leave out the name of the town. I know, I just referred to it as a city, but it’s really nothing more than a village, especially when you consider the narrowmindedness of its citizens. I sometimes think I ought to be living somewhere else, but my work keeps me here. Jennifer too. A few more years, and we’ll be ready to retire. I’d like to head south, maybe Florida, but Jen’s got other ideas. She’d prefer to return to her roots in small-town Massachusetts, an hour and a half from Boston.

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