Wednesday, June 13, 2007

Three Word Wednesday







The rules, if you wanna call 'em that, are here.

Magic, Repeatedly, Forty, Admit (Yeah, we know. It's four)

Magic
Continuation of "Digging"
The quiet magic of Michelle’s morning was repeatedly interrupted by the same couple she’d heard arguing earlier. Their incessant bickering was an omnipresent summer fixture to all those within earshot of the couple's house. Michelle had heard them for years during her visits to the house on 44th Street. It was her sister’s house now, but it had once been her maternal grandmother’s house. Summers for the Prasek family were most always spent at Granny’s. ‘

The couple, who must have been their sixties by then, continued. Hurtful barbs were tossed recklessly back and forth. Birds fluttered to and fro, mindless of the commotion across the street. The front door of the couple’s house opened. The man stormed out in his shorts; no shirt, of course. His hairy Italian body, carried by thick trunks of legs, swayed left and right as he treaded down the four wooden steps leading to the driveway on the side of the house. He stopped and spun around.

“And if you think I’m gonna fuckin’ put up with the kind of garbage you’re trying to pass off as food these days, you’re sadly mistaken missy! You may get away with sloppin’ that shit to your beloved customers, but it ain’t happenin’ here. Not in my household. Not in my goddam house.” He pulled on the t-shirt he’d brought out of the house with him. “Admit it goddam it. Your food ain’t worth a damn. Admit it!!!” he wailed. "Open your goddam pie hole and admit it!!!!!!” The veins stood out on his neck. His face glowed red as he glowered at her and waited for an answer. His head quivered as he fought to remain still for effect.

She said nothing for a moment. When the woman raised her hand in a gesture that was surely intended to precede a litany of profane references to the man’s penis size or his insufficient retirement pension, Michelle stood upright. The chair in which she’d been seated flipped over and fell on it’s side. A startled sparrow fluttered away in a hurry. “Ya know what? It’s seven forty on a God damned Sunday morning! I’d just be tickled fucking pink if you two old battle axes would shut the fuck up, go back inside, kill each other, and let me have some God damned, mother-fucking peace and quiet!!! Is that too much to ask?”

With that, she heaved her coffee cup toward them and spun to go back into the house. It fell and shattered harmlessly on the blacktop street between the houses.

Michelle slammed the door behind her, and plopped onto the couch from which she’d arisen only a few short minutes ago and pulled the sheet up over her head. Her sister, oblivious to all that had been going on in this short span of Michelle’s life walked into the living room. “Hey sis. Wanna go for a walk on the beach?” But Michelle’s morning was already shot. “No.” Her sister knew that ‘no’ and said nothing. Michelle faded, and was soon fast asleep again.

4 comments:

Arlene said...

Ooooh, I love that she chewed them out!!!!

Gay said...

She didn't mince words, did she? I like the power you gave her, and the fact that once she got it off her chest, she was able to go to sleep. Wow. Wish I could do that after I'm angry.

We sing we dance we steal things said...

Nice easy read!

Bone said...

Wow, that was jarring. I wonder how they were still together after all those years of bickering.

I don't understand why people have to yell. I can't stand it.