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Timothy and Ca-Ca talk in Ca-Ca's little backyard again....
It's almost dark. This time it was cold...maybe ten or fifteen days into November. They had coats and gloves and scarves. Sometimes it's fun to bundle up, sit outside and look at the clear, night sky... but not this time.
Timothy said - My uncle came over last night. He comes over all the time. We eat dinner together, 'cause he's all alone and my mother says he'll kill himself on the lid to a can or something. But this time felt different. He didn't joke around so much. We just ate...chopped steak with onions and gravy.....
Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! - went Ca-Ca. Did I ask you that? He's a cop! He's a cop! What did he say? I am gonna go down in the subway and jump in front of a train. I mean it. I can't take this. Now tell me....
He made like it was natural... Like he was just tellin' stories from work. Couldn't tell all of it, 'cause it's police stuff. But he tells us things all the time. Not me maybe, but my mom and dad. Only this time he wanted me to hear too. I could tell. I knew it.
How could you tell? - said Ca-Ca.
'Cause how he looked at me. He said - We're getting close in that 'little girl' case.... You mean 'Esther?' - said my mother... He nodded. She said - Such a terrible thing.. He nodded some more. My dad just ate, but he looked different... more mean, or more nervous. I don't know. I can't tell the difference. He don't like chopped steak night. Says it's just crappy hamburger, only he has to pay more for it (in a small voice), but I like it.
Ca-Ca just sits there looking at the cement in the tiny, fenced in space. She could see it a little, 'cause of the light from the kitchen window. She wanted to say something, but she just sighed.
Timothy went on. He said - My uncle goes - We got some 'bum,' some homeless guy who saw something. Found him jimmying the lock on Rocco's newsstand down the avenue. Cops look out for Rocco, 'cause a the stroke and all...
You remember it all? - asked Ca-Ca.
Yeah, every word. How could I forget. The guy saw 'it,' Ca-Ca. He described your coat. He described me. Not as much as you. Boys' coats are more the same. Said we looked about nine or ten years old too. You know what they did? They went to the school... to all the fourth and fifth grade teachers. Showed them pictures. You know when the cops draw those pictures?... the ones that look like comic book bad guys?.
She quietly said - Yeah...
Well, they got ones of us - Tim said.
Then why didn't they arrest us? He said that? Your uncle said that? - she whispered....
No, he didn't say they were of us. Just two kids.. But they're looking and they're talking to people. They're talking to kids too. I feel like I'm gonna throw up every time I walk into that place, even the schoolyard. I feel like I'm gonna die. (silence) Are you still gonna run away?
Yep - she says
Your cousin get a whore to be the fake mom?
Nope - she says.
Can I go? Is there enough money for me?
She just looks at him...
Five heartbeats later he quietly begins to cry...
<more next time>
click - DOWNTON ... to see more Vampire Wonderland (remember, not all of our story arcs are about vampires. this one obviously isn't)...
click - ABBEY ... to join me on Twitter...
thank you. please comment and tell your friends.
It's almost dark. This time it was cold...maybe ten or fifteen days into November. They had coats and gloves and scarves. Sometimes it's fun to bundle up, sit outside and look at the clear, night sky... but not this time.
Timothy said - My uncle came over last night. He comes over all the time. We eat dinner together, 'cause he's all alone and my mother says he'll kill himself on the lid to a can or something. But this time felt different. He didn't joke around so much. We just ate...chopped steak with onions and gravy.....
Shut up! Shut up! Shut up! - went Ca-Ca. Did I ask you that? He's a cop! He's a cop! What did he say? I am gonna go down in the subway and jump in front of a train. I mean it. I can't take this. Now tell me....
He made like it was natural... Like he was just tellin' stories from work. Couldn't tell all of it, 'cause it's police stuff. But he tells us things all the time. Not me maybe, but my mom and dad. Only this time he wanted me to hear too. I could tell. I knew it.
How could you tell? - said Ca-Ca.
'Cause how he looked at me. He said - We're getting close in that 'little girl' case.... You mean 'Esther?' - said my mother... He nodded. She said - Such a terrible thing.. He nodded some more. My dad just ate, but he looked different... more mean, or more nervous. I don't know. I can't tell the difference. He don't like chopped steak night. Says it's just crappy hamburger, only he has to pay more for it (in a small voice), but I like it.
Ca-Ca just sits there looking at the cement in the tiny, fenced in space. She could see it a little, 'cause of the light from the kitchen window. She wanted to say something, but she just sighed.
Timothy went on. He said - My uncle goes - We got some 'bum,' some homeless guy who saw something. Found him jimmying the lock on Rocco's newsstand down the avenue. Cops look out for Rocco, 'cause a the stroke and all...
You remember it all? - asked Ca-Ca.
Yeah, every word. How could I forget. The guy saw 'it,' Ca-Ca. He described your coat. He described me. Not as much as you. Boys' coats are more the same. Said we looked about nine or ten years old too. You know what they did? They went to the school... to all the fourth and fifth grade teachers. Showed them pictures. You know when the cops draw those pictures?... the ones that look like comic book bad guys?.
She quietly said - Yeah...
Well, they got ones of us - Tim said.
Then why didn't they arrest us? He said that? Your uncle said that? - she whispered....
No, he didn't say they were of us. Just two kids.. But they're looking and they're talking to people. They're talking to kids too. I feel like I'm gonna throw up every time I walk into that place, even the schoolyard. I feel like I'm gonna die. (silence) Are you still gonna run away?
Yep - she says
Your cousin get a whore to be the fake mom?
Nope - she says.
Can I go? Is there enough money for me?
She just looks at him...
Five heartbeats later he quietly begins to cry...
<more next time>
click - DOWNTON ... to see more Vampire Wonderland (remember, not all of our story arcs are about vampires. this one obviously isn't)...
click - ABBEY ... to join me on Twitter...
thank you. please comment and tell your friends.
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