Skip to main content

A Minute in Seconds

"Do you want bubbles, Sissy?" Tommy asked.
She jumped twice, arms flapping in front of her and then she stopped. She looked up at him.
"YES!" she shrieked, then pulled at her clothes.
The cookie clumped on her face and mashed between her fingers made Sissy look ugly, Tommy thought.
Dirty and ugly.
"Shut-up, Sissy," he said to her, as he bent over the tub, pouring shampoo into the warm water. And Sissy jumped some more, behind him.

Sissy hated soap, so Tommy was very wet, as he sat down on the toilet lid, to wait while she played in the water, for awhile. The cuffs of his shirt were sopping and his wrists were itchy.
He thought about rocket ships. He stared at the ceiling.

Sissy was dressed for bed and they were standing in the bedroom, but now they could not find Lydia.
And now Sissy was crying; loudly.
Her fists were in a ball and her feet looked as though nailed to the floor.
She was screaming and red in the face.
Tommy ran out of the room and did not stop until he was in front of the coffee table, in the living room. His heart was racing.
Tommy looked at the ceiling, again. He screamed.
"FUCK!"
Then he took a deep breath. His heart slowed.
And when he looked down towards the floor, he saw Lydia's wool hair poking out from under the couch. He clentched the hair tight in his fist, when he picked her up.
But he did not throw the doll.
Sissy went right to sleep once Lydia was in her arms and the sheet covered her shoulders, the day too hot, the tears too many.
Tommy went to the bathroom to take off his shirt and to run himself a bath.

Comments

Jennifer said…
I never know what to say when I read these stories. So how about a great big :D
Phoesable said…
I'm very, very glad he didn't throw Lydia.
:-)

Thanks for the Tommy fix, Q.

Popular posts from this blog

The Village Itself

Across the road from my home is an apartment building. It is made of brown brick and has three stories. It also has plenty of windows I often forget about while I go about my daily and nightly routines. I also forget my curtains are white, lacey and see-through scraps purchased from an aisle in Wal-Mart. Fifteen apartments. That may all house people with binoculars. It was the muggiest night this past summer had owned. Brenda was down for a visit and when she comes, it usually means a night spent over on my couch for her. Brenda lives in another town. It was one in the morning, no sleep to be found between the two us. We sat slouched on my front porch trying to capture the occasional breeze offered, sucking it deep into our lungs, praying it would cool us down. Our glasses of Pepsi sweated warning us how warm the drink would taste in our mouths. "Tilly! Tilly!" the shout sat our spines straight as we looked across the street to the where the sound was coming fr...

Rosy Cheeks

My son's circle and lined wall, created with the permanent red marker, became something he liked to show-off. I guess the other kids who come here liked it, too.   I guess he wanted to show-off more. That is one of the many hypothesis I have about how the Map of Africa came to be. I just keep hoping my kid is some kind of odd little genius.  On the morning I discovered the map of Africa, I was not speechless and I could breathe. "What is this?" I demanded. And loudly. My son shrugged his shoulders. "I like it. It's nice. Took a long time." He had chipped paint off the wall. His walls are white. That morning, it was discovered his room used to be beige.   And it was starting to look like a room in an abandoned house. I thought to myself that maybe this look would be the in thing  20 years from now and he could make millions. He could be a visionary. It was a good enough excuse for me to leave the room. I used it...

..What Are You Waiting For?

She had a real calm smile; it took its time creeping up into her eyes. And there she was looking up at me. She was sitting, right down there on the sidewalk, up against the wall of the bank. Her hand was wrapped around a red pen; buried into a magazine. And I was walking by her. Her eyes were brown. I did not smile back at her. One can never be too sure about anyone who is downtown. A few days later; it was grey and chilly, and I saw her again. With the same simple smile; this time growing into recognition. She stood just inside the entrance way of the video store, ducked, despite the fact she was barley five feet tall and the doorway was at least ten. Funny girl, I thought. Her smile passed by quickly, and then she bent her head down, to the inside of another magazine. She took a long, lipstick drag off a cigarette. "What are you doing?" she asked, when I was passing by her a day and a half later. And I stopped my step, for I was truly stumped. I looked down at my br...