Skip to Content
crumbling_logo1.png

Please welcome our new serialized flash fiction by Rodger Jacobs... updated every Monday

Like every other wandering and shapeless fool in this wind-blasted, fire-ravaged town I used to believe in the myth of the future, and I shaped my life by this belief. I turned my back on the past and eagerly awaited the dawn of tomorrow.

The land is restless in L.A., restless and sliding like the high lurching cliffs that confront the ocean in Pacific Palisades; that should have been enough to clue me in to the impermanence here, the impermanence of life and of the city itself.

I knew that Evelyn LaScalles would murder me. I knew it the moment I laid eyes on her in that dive bar near Seward and Willoughby, a particularly nasty stretch of Old Hollywood. She smiled and asked if she could buy me a drink. I lowered myself onto the high-backed stool next to her and tried to ignore the obvious outline of a gun in her handbag. It was none of my business. A lot of people have good reason to carry a gun in L.A.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from L.A. TACO

Exclusive: Wife of Hunger Striking Detainee Speaks Out on Inhumane Treatment

According to a lawyer with the National Day Labor Network, a hunger strike is a last resort—it is what people do when every other option has been taken away.

Weekend Eats: On-Tap Sarsaparilla and Soylent Green Cocktails At This Apocalypse-Themed Bar

Plus chocolate-and-ice cream tacos, a new Argentine asado up on the eight floor, and a taco fundraiser for Gaza emergency medical workers.

May 22, 2026

Investigations Newsletter: L.A. TACO Reporter Detained While Reporting (Again)

“Sign right there,” LAPD Officer Lockhart ordered. “If you don’t sign, you go to jail, it’s simple.”

May 22, 2026

Craft Breweries Are Struggling. So How Does This One Keep Expanding?

Everything there is to know about the hyper-dank and extremely brave brewery opening at Union Station’s iconic Fred Harvey space tomorrow.

Daily Memo: Immigration Lawyers Overwhelmed With the Number of Detainees Needing Representation

“The system has been set up in a way to make people lose hope, to make them give up fighting their case before they talk to an attorney, before they even really know what their options are," says one of the immigration lawyers from the Immigration Defenders Law Center stepping up to help.

This WWE Power Couple Is Venturing into L.A.’s Coffee Roasting Scene

World Wrestling Entertainment stars Seth Rollins and Becky Lynch have launched AMO, inspired by their true life, non-kayfabe romance; plus, a short guide to a few of their favorite spots in L.A.

May 20, 2026
See all posts