Against the Odds

Against the Odds — page 3 — pulled up his sleeve to show me where he had been stuck I stood on my tiptoes and looked There was a small red spot among the freckles on his upper arm Is that all I said And I’m taking pills he said My father could also be shot dead There are tons of soliders in a war Maybe one of them might think that my father was the enemy And then of course they would shoot him I don’t take sides my father said Any soldier can see that right away My father could get into an accident He could drive his car into a ravine Or his plane could crash Do you know the story of the man who was afraid of everything my father said Yes I answered My father loved telling the story of the man who was afraid of everything It’s a stupid story The man who was afraid of everything didn’t dare leave his home because he was convinced it was dangerous outside One day a huge tree fell on the house and the man who was afraid of everything was killed You know what it means my father said An accident

Against the Odds — page 4 — can happen anywhere It isn’t smart to be afraid of everything and stay home If everyone stayed home the world would never change But I would still rather have my father stay home He could be hit by a stray bullet Stray bullets are worse than soldiers They do what they want They fly through the air and nobody can even see them coming Stray bullets don’t exist my father said Yes they do I answered Don’t worry my father said I’ve never seen one But when you see one it’s too late I answered

Against the Odds — page 5 — My father leaned over to pet Mona Bye old girl he said Take good care of these women He sighed Mona wagged her knobby tail and sighed back We can take care of ourselves my mother said My father lifted me up in the air I put my head on his shoulder You’re getting heavy Kiki my father said I can hear my bones creak Weakling I mumbled Sweetheart my father answered He let me down Then he lifted up my mother Only a little bit I listened No creaking at all The taxi’s here my mother said My father dragged his suitcase to the taxi and climbed in My mother ran after him My father lowered the window and gave her a kiss Kiss he called to me I climbed up the garden wall and raised my hand Bye I said The taxi drove away

Against the Odds — page 6 — Mona can sigh from both ends Most of her sighs come from her rear end She lets out soft stinky little farts Mona’s front end only sighs when you pat her And I never do She was old and dirty when we got her Nobody wanted her except for my mother Every day Mona gets a little older and uglier She is small and fat She has short hair that stands up straight and a little stumpy tail Her eyes bulge out she has big ears and her little teeth stick out from under her upper lip And from the very beginning she has hated me If she gets a chance she lies next to me and farts One day she bit off half of my name bracelet Only a little piece was left Now your name is Ki my mother said I want a new one I said A new dog or a new bracelet Both Ki my mother said That’s not such a bad name My mother loves stuff that’s wrecked Our living room is full of things that normal people would throw out We have a cracked mirror a couch with flat cushions and a chair with a broken back My mother works in a store where they sell secondhand furniture And when something doesn’t

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