O - Brother.

The day wasn't cold, and a young girl sat at her desk with her hair tied back completely, munching on five hard boiled eggs. She glanced toward her fish bowl and noticed the beta was hiding underneath his castle. With the reassuring thought that if he was dead he'd be visibly floating, she began to practice her French. Down the hall the radio was blaring a hazy song that fought through the static and brought her back to older times. A temporary realization struck her hard and her eyes began to well up, but no further progress was made. A sinking boat riled her stomach; she thought longingly of the full bottle in the pantry. The girl left the room.

Sitting on a bench out front during that coveted portion of the day, twilight, the girl reached for her soft pack of cigarettes and lit one with the last match in the match book. She began to read, inhaling deeply. One soft flurry of ash drifted in front of her face and she gazed at it in slow motion, not daring to move. Her eyes followed the ash as it traveled downward onto her chest. She left it there. 

Two of her shows were on that night, and she discussed this with her sister as she pulled into the drive. Minutes later another car approached, her brother this time. Ignoring him and returning to her book, the girl slumped back against the concrete. 

To her right the boy was slowly climbing a mesquite tree, the better to seize her attention. Once he reached the top he shouted, "Free at last mama!"

The girl giggled while the boy returned an even louder laugh.

"What are you, crazy?" She exclaimed, half embarrassed and half delighted.

Silence. The boy came over and sat beside her in the blue light. 

"I like your shoes."

"Do you? Me too." The boy replied as he dusted off his shirt for no apparent reason.

"Where'ja go to?"

"Store."

"How come?"

"Cigarettes and rubber cement. Footy pajamas."

Ignoring the joke, the girl slowly said, "Papa has hand sanitizer in his trunk."

As though this statement had all the relevance in the world the boy looked over at the girl, then toward the sky. After a full minute of silence he walked inside.

The girl put down her book. The boat had sailed into a different part of her body for the time being. Her father roared inside the house. 

She muttered, "Free at last, mama."

2006