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She's Three

Sissy was wearing her blue hat and mittens and her red rubber boots. She was going to the store with Momma and Tommy.
"I want some gum." Tommy said to his mother.
And Sissy wanted gum, too.

The park was on the way to the store. When they were close, Momma said they could play there for a little bit.
Sissy went up and down the slide and laughed.
Tommy sat in a swing and kicked dirt.
Momma smoked a cigarette, in the shade.

Jackie was driving down the road and Sissy saw the red car first. Jackie pulled over and said, "Let's go for ice cream."
The kids climbed into the back seat and Jackie put the top down. She turned to Sissy and said, "I like your red boots."
"Yeah, Jackie," answered Sissy.
At the ice cream parlor, Jackie held her up and read to her the kinds of cone she could have. "Chocolate..Vanilla..Tiger Stripe..Bubble Gum..P--"
And Sissy remembered she wanted gum, too.

Momma said okay, they would go over to Jackie's house, so everyone ate their ice cream in the car.
"Andrea is already at home and John and Zack and their Daddy should be home in about an hour," Jackie told Tommy and Sissy.
Sissy was licking her arm; melt running off the cone. "Yeah, Jackie," she nodded. "This is good ice cream."
"I don't like mine," Tommy mumbled and dumped his treat out onto the road.

Andrea set up the sprinkler, after her brothers came home. Momma and Jackie sat under the tree, with Crystal Light and vodka between them.
Tommy would not go in the water.
And Momma had told Sissy to take off her mittens and boots, before she could.
"No, Momma" defied Sissy each time it was mentioned. She would not go in the water without them.
Instead she lay motionless, on the ground, with her baby legs burning in the full sun.
Tommy went for a spin on John's bike. He rode around and around and around the block. When he came back, Tommy was sweaty. And Sissy was still laying in the sun.
"It is hot, Sissy. Let's go in the water."
"Yeah, Tommy."
And no one said a word about her hats and boots this time.

Afterwards, Tommy was itchy and the mosquitoes were biting Sissy.
She was screaming and hitting herself. "Bad bugs. Bad bugs."
"Let's have hot dogs," Jackie said, then yelled at the house, "Jason...Come start a fire."
His voice yelled back from inside the house. "I love fire."
"Let's take off your mittens," Jackie said to Sissy. "The bugs like your mittens."
"Yeah, Jackie," Sissy agreed. But her wrinkled fingers scared her and she started to scream again. "Look the bugs do. Bad bugs."
Then the fire was lit and the children dried.
And Sissy liked the fire. It made her skin feel warm. She took off all her clothes.
Zack started to sing, "Oh, Canadaaaaa..."
And Sissy finished for him, "The land of the freeeee..."
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Comments

Traci Dolan said…
Always a joy to catch up on the life and times of Tommy.
Sunday, 23 July 2006 at 16:40:00 GMT-4
me said…
Thank you teeny monkeys for the blog steer.
Saturday, 26 August 2006 at 19:00:00 GMT-4
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