the porch and picked up her bowl of peas. “Fine. Be gone by tomorrow. I’ll give you a ride to town.”
The thought of riding on that bony woman ’s back to town gave me the shivers. What a strange place I’d landed in. Still, it was better than the hospital, so I went in the house willingly enough.
It was dark, but that was nothing new to me. The place was dusty, but I was never one to care about that. There was a smell of something cooking, and I followed the mother into her kitchen.
“Wash up then,” she ordered. I watched her throw the peas in some boiling water on top of a large oven. I stared at it curiously: the oven, I mean. I couldn’t see the fire, and I was curious about the heat source. I wanted to reach out and touch it, but the mother looked like she wouldn’t want me to.
“ Is the river close?” I mumbled.
“ Not particularly. You’re a funny one. Use the sink,” she gestured towards the place near the oven.
I waited until Daniel passed me by and used it first. The water came gushing out of a pipe right into his hands. I held my hands under it eagerly. It was cold, but it felt nice enough.
The father arrived, a big man, dirty from working in the fields all day and ill-tempered. Probably from being married to a shrew, I figured. He grunted when introduced to me. We sat down at the table and ate our supper. There was bread and meat and the peas and a jar of peaches. It wasn’t the best food, but I was hungry enough to eat, especially the bread. I stuffed a whole piece in my mouth, and the mother moved the plate out of my reach with a glare. She didn’t scare me, and I glared back.
That night I slept in a bed with Louise, who had come back from her beau, Bobby. She nearly talked me to death, like I was some sort of friend or sister or something, until I told her to shut up or I ’d smother her with a pillow. I think she thought I was joking because she laughed, but I wasn’t joking, and I didn’t laugh with her, and she abruptly shut up.
The next morning the mother made us all line up for prayers, and when I wouldn ’t say them she tried to turn me over her knee for a swat. It was unsuccessful, and she ended up looking a fool, panting and angrier than a hornet. I laughed in her red face and went outside. Louise and Daniel looked after me with expressions that almost looked reverent.
I was sitting by the car (to me it was just an odd pile of metal) when it suddenly sprang to life. It roared and sputtered and moved, and I screamed. I wanted to run away but my legs wouldn ’t obey me, and so I just sat there, screaming until the father came out from the pile of metal and yelled at me to stop.
“ Get her out of here!” the mother demanded, letting the screen slam shut behind her. The naked baby was on her hip.
The man opened a door in the metal thing and came toward me, and when I realized what he meant to do, I screamed louder and kicked him hard. He grabbed my wrists with one meaty hand and my kicking ankles with the other. I tried to bite, but he shook me like a dog. I felt my teeth knock together with such force I wondered if I broke any. He tossed me in the growling thing, and I hit my head. I thought he meant to cook me in there, like it was some sort of giant oven, and I was not going to die that way. Like the witch from the gingerbread cottage. Would he throw in wood and fire next? I pushed on the door, but it wouldn ’t open the way it had for him. Was there a magic word? Was there a key or a secret latch? I fumbled until I found it and pushed and pulled until it gave way and the door swung open. My body fell out. The father came around again, and the whole ordeal started over. This time the mother brought out a frying pan.
“ You want me to knock her in the head, Bert?” She held it over her head with one hand, while she balanced the baby with the other.
“ Naw, she’ll behave,” the father grunted. “If she don’t, we’ll grind her up and feed her to the pigs.
The thought of riding on that bony woman ’s back to town gave me the shivers. What a strange place I’d landed in. Still, it was better than the hospital, so I went in the house willingly enough.
It was dark, but that was nothing new to me. The place was dusty, but I was never one to care about that. There was a smell of something cooking, and I followed the mother into her kitchen.
“Wash up then,” she ordered. I watched her throw the peas in some boiling water on top of a large oven. I stared at it curiously: the oven, I mean. I couldn’t see the fire, and I was curious about the heat source. I wanted to reach out and touch it, but the mother looked like she wouldn’t want me to.
“ Is the river close?” I mumbled.
“ Not particularly. You’re a funny one. Use the sink,” she gestured towards the place near the oven.
I waited until Daniel passed me by and used it first. The water came gushing out of a pipe right into his hands. I held my hands under it eagerly. It was cold, but it felt nice enough.
The father arrived, a big man, dirty from working in the fields all day and ill-tempered. Probably from being married to a shrew, I figured. He grunted when introduced to me. We sat down at the table and ate our supper. There was bread and meat and the peas and a jar of peaches. It wasn’t the best food, but I was hungry enough to eat, especially the bread. I stuffed a whole piece in my mouth, and the mother moved the plate out of my reach with a glare. She didn’t scare me, and I glared back.
That night I slept in a bed with Louise, who had come back from her beau, Bobby. She nearly talked me to death, like I was some sort of friend or sister or something, until I told her to shut up or I ’d smother her with a pillow. I think she thought I was joking because she laughed, but I wasn’t joking, and I didn’t laugh with her, and she abruptly shut up.
The next morning the mother made us all line up for prayers, and when I wouldn ’t say them she tried to turn me over her knee for a swat. It was unsuccessful, and she ended up looking a fool, panting and angrier than a hornet. I laughed in her red face and went outside. Louise and Daniel looked after me with expressions that almost looked reverent.
I was sitting by the car (to me it was just an odd pile of metal) when it suddenly sprang to life. It roared and sputtered and moved, and I screamed. I wanted to run away but my legs wouldn ’t obey me, and so I just sat there, screaming until the father came out from the pile of metal and yelled at me to stop.
“ Get her out of here!” the mother demanded, letting the screen slam shut behind her. The naked baby was on her hip.
The man opened a door in the metal thing and came toward me, and when I realized what he meant to do, I screamed louder and kicked him hard. He grabbed my wrists with one meaty hand and my kicking ankles with the other. I tried to bite, but he shook me like a dog. I felt my teeth knock together with such force I wondered if I broke any. He tossed me in the growling thing, and I hit my head. I thought he meant to cook me in there, like it was some sort of giant oven, and I was not going to die that way. Like the witch from the gingerbread cottage. Would he throw in wood and fire next? I pushed on the door, but it wouldn ’t open the way it had for him. Was there a magic word? Was there a key or a secret latch? I fumbled until I found it and pushed and pulled until it gave way and the door swung open. My body fell out. The father came around again, and the whole ordeal started over. This time the mother brought out a frying pan.
“ You want me to knock her in the head, Bert?” She held it over her head with one hand, while she balanced the baby with the other.
“ Naw, she’ll behave,” the father grunted. “If she don’t, we’ll grind her up and feed her to the pigs.
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