Extra-Extra by Cindy Rosmus
from Seven Deadly Sins: a PUNK NOIR Magazine series
Excess. Natalie’s middle name.
Nobody like my sister. Extra-this, extra-that. Salad lost in so much dressing you felt sorry for it.
“No such thing,” she said in that baby-schnooks voice, “as too much blue-cheese dressing!”
Nick watched her. Like there was “no such thing” as too much Natalie. Her new husband . . .
Who used to be mine.
“I need a big bowl,” she told the waiter. “Of cut-up, fresh lemons.” For her flounder. Instead of two slices, like a normal diner.
“No, no!” she snapped, when only two slices showed up.
“Nat,” Nick whispered, “Take mine.”
That pout.
Spare ribs, extra-well-done. Beyond the jerky point. Deluged with the thickest, sweetest BBQ sauce she could find. “Isn’t it delicious like this?” she said. Smirking when I spat it out. Avoiding my eyes, Nick leaned closer to her.
That was Memorial Day.
Fourth of July, she got a surprise.
After years of feeling empty. Starving, no matter how much food surrounded me. Swimming in the juice of fresh lemons . . .
While Nick got us drinks, I loaded her plate high.
“Mmmmm,” she said, cheeks and fingers drenched in BBQ sauce.
Extra-extra sweet.
From antifreeze.
This story appears as part of Seven Deadly Sins, a PUNK NOIR Magazine series, originally published July 2025.
Bio
Cindy Rosmus originally hails from the Ironbound section of Newark, NJ, once voted the “unfriendliest city on the planet.” She talks like Anybody’s from West Side Story and everybody from Saturday Night Fever. Her noir/horror/bizarro stories have been published in places like Shotgun Honey, The Yard, Punk Noir,Danse Macabre, The Rye Whiskey Review, Under the Bleachers, and Rock and a Hard Place. She is the editor/art director of Yellow Mama and has published seven collections of short stories. Cindy is a Gemini, a Christian, and an animal rights advocate.
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