Victor Lodato reads his story from the March 27, 2017, issue of the magazine.  Lodato is a playwright and fiction writer.  His second novel, “Edgar and Lucy,” was published this month.  This is his third story in The New Yorker.  

He pushes her against a tree, and even though his hand is somewhere else, the girl feels it on her throat. She can’t speak. She only squeaks. A shadow falls, as if to give them privacy. The man takes full advantage. “Get the fuck away from her.”There’s a sudden cracking sound, and the man whelps.