Middle of Nowhere

Middle of Nowhere — page 7 — I had a bath last night he said You didn’t I did I did he shrieked The thing is he really thought he had He has no concept of time When I finally got the shirt off and tossed it on the pile in the corner an idea came to me It’s not actually a bath It’s laundry I’m not laundry All the light-colored things went in the tub with some bubble bath drizzled on top As soon as the bubbles bubbled up and the clothes rose to the top Artie whooped and stripped naked and jumped in This is how they make wine I told him as he sloshed happy our clothes are clean He pitched another fit Artie’s fits are straight out of horror movies The little kid explodes and surprise around From dirty clothes I tricked him into sitting down and bouncing around for a bit until he and the laundry were clean He seemed happy But later after I read him a story and tucked him in the hideaway bed he started crying again When’s Mom coming back Soon Where is she I don’t know But when she comes back she’ll be so

Middle of Nowhere — page 8 — There’s a monster inside him Something really good is going to come out of this Artie I promised He stopped bawling How do you know Because that’s what happened last time she went away and came back I said Did she bring us a present She brought me a present What was it he asked You I said Artie thought about this while he ground his fist into his eye Then he exploded again I miss her What do you miss I miss sucking her hair Every night that she didn’t have a class Mom lay down with Artie and let him suck her hair until he fell asleep Suck your own hair It doesn’t reach And it’s not the same I miss how she smells How she smells Why didn’t you say In the bathroom a giant bottle of Economizer Extra Strength Hand and Body Lotion sat on the windowsill I pumped some into my palm Back in the living-room I dried Artie’s tears with the sheet then I dabbed some of the lotion on his cheeks At first he shoved my hand away but

Middle of Nowhere — page 9 — as soon as he smelled the lotion he closed his eyes and let me rub his whole face with it Mom he whispered Mom I smell you I smell you coming closer I smell you coming home

Middle of Nowhere — page 10 — 2 I WAS SO sure that she would be back the next morning but she wasn’t She didn’t show up She would though Soon I was sure of it I was Mr Bryant stopped me after class and said if I didn’t bring back the permission form I couldn’t go on the field trip We have a field trip He took a lunging step forward and swung his arm like he was launching a bowling ball down the hall Oh right I said If it’s the fee he said pretending to pick something off his sleeve so I wouldn’t be embarrassed it doesn’t matter Mr Bryant is maybe my favorite teacher ever though Mrs Gill was pretty nice too Mr Bryant calls us people but the best thing about him is that he wears earrings The first day of grade six this kid Mickey Roach put up his hand and asked Mr Bryant if he was a lady Mr Bryant said he was a person and he expected us all to act like people too

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