I’m sorry everyone. I got out of order. Here’s what’s really next. Promise to pay closer attention next time.
Smile
Oscar chuckled. “Unless we have an Earthquake, I don’t think your bed will be rocked too much.”
“You’re not going to throw a wild party and all your drunk guests come over and t.p. my tree?”
He smiled despite himself. “No.” A thought crept into his mind. Maybe he could rock her bed sometime?
“If you don’t mind me saying, you have a nice smile. You should smile more.”
“Thank you.” She had her right arm draped over the back of the couch with her hand dangling toward the cushions. He noticed the ring on her hand. Had it been there the whole time? It was silver with a large yellow gem in the center with what looked like a little cluster of diamonds on each side. He slid his hand under hers, “that is a lovely ring.”
“Thanks,” she smiled a sad smile. “Some friends of mine bought it for me when I got baptized.”
“That is an amazing gift.”
She seemed to get lost in that moment.
He wished she would tell him what she was thinking.
Finally she replied, “it was. But what was the most amazing part was that the church was a sea of black uniforms.”
He asked her to stay another night. There wasn’t much thinking to it this night. No heat, no cleaning had gotten done. They had pretty much spent the afternoon talking. She was amazed at how much she enjoyed talking to him. How easy conversation just flowed. He was a very smart man. Seemed to be genuinely kind, and smelt so good.
Monday rolled around and as Oscar went to work, she went to buy cleaning supplies.
There was a warm feeling in Oscar’s heart as he pulled out of the drive way. This wonderful woman could become a friend. A friend he needed. He allowed a little smile to dance across his face. Little smile. Why not a big one? He thought. No one’s looking. No one will know. His mood reached heights it hadn’t been in years. The snowball fight, dinner, watching her sleep, and she was so easy to talk to. It all played through his mind.
That stupid cartoon grin of his brothers played through his mind crashing his mood. He still felt embarrassed every time he thought about it. Too him, his family was horrible. It made him feel good that Esther stood up to his brother. He tried but then when he did the effort only made him feel worse. Like he was the one doing something wrong.
He jumped out of his skin when his cellphone rang. His mother’s name showed up. This was going to be a treat. The easiest thing to do was not answer. But for some reason he couldn’t do that. His mother didn’t have anything good to say about him, EVER. From the moment he accepted the call, she started. “Who was the whore of Babylon? Whore, whore.” Every other word was whore, slut, whore, loose women. On and on she squawked. She sounded like a cage full of birds. “Your brother told me about your all weekend sex scandal. You should be more like him and find you a woman to marry. What’s wrong with Doris? Oh and what business did she have attackin’ Pussy? She’s a good girl that would never hurt a soul.” Oscar’s head started spinning and his vision became blurry. It was all he could do to pull off the road. “Whore, slut, tramp, Doris just ain’t good enough for you is she? You’ve always acted like you were better than us.”
On she talked but he couldn’t remember about what. Her voice continued to echo inside his head. Swirling like a raging tornado.
He couldn’t breathe. His heart was being squeezed out of his chest. With great difficulty he squeaked, “at work,” before shutting off the phone.
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