Saturday, May 8, 2021

Hey! You! Get Out of My Way! Leaving Home Part 7

I look over at Jay T., who is still stuffing his face. “She’s a bitch,” he says through a mouth full of egg. Someone behind me asks, “Are you Geoff?” I turn around. Standing in the door is a large woman dressed all in black. Her hair is piled on top of her head, and she has glasses on a chain hanging around her neck.


Taking two steps forward, she pulls out a chair and plops down into it, making cups on the table jump. Jay T. is oblivious to her and stares at the chandelier. The sun is making a light dance around it and he is transfixed by it. The woman has a cup of coffee in her hand, she takes a spoon and swirls it around the inside of the cup, making an obnoxious clinking sound. “
Donna is my name, and I’m your new social worker.” 

 

I think to myself that since I never had a social worker before, she will be my only social worker. “I have already started a file on you, so finish up and we’ll talk.” Her eyes get real big, and while grabbing a piece of bacon off my plate, she pushes out her chair and stands up. Popping the bacon in her mouth, she turns and walks in the direction of the office. Her large hips sway side to side. “She’s a bitch,” Jay T. says with a laugh, spitting more eggs into the air.

I drink my coffee and push away from the table. I’m not hungry, but I want to check out the backyard. I glimpsed it through the window in the kitchen. From what I saw, it’s part garden, part basketball court. I walk out of the dining room, through the kitchen, and into the backyard. The garden is a little overgrown and the basketball court is a gravel driveway that used to be blacktop.

Standing behind the house, I see that Christine is out in the backyard smoking. Her nervous eyes dart back and forth, she looks lost in thought. She spots me walking down the driveway towards her and hugs her body closer. She has thin white arms. Raising her cigarette to her lips she mutters to me and asks if I want one. It seems to me as if she is going out of her way to make some sort of effort. “I would love one,” I say.

She shakes a cigarette loose in the pack and offers it to me. “Rough night?” she asks. There is red around her eyes, making me believe that she cried the night away. It also seems pretty clear to me that Vinny hasn’t let her know about his trying to skull fuck people before they sleep. 

“Yeah,” I say, putting the cigarette between my lips. It’
s a Marlboro Light, my favorite. Christine holds up a lighter. I lean forward and light my cigarette. “Do you go to school?” I ask. Christine’s laugh in response to my question creates a smoky cough. Covering her mouth with the back of her hand she hacks up phlegm and spits it on the ground. “I go to Albany High, if you can call it a school. If you make it home at the end of the day and you haven’t been raped in the bathroom, it’s been a good day.” She laughs again, spitting up more phlegm. “Oh shit,” Christine says as Lorraine opens the back door, popping her head out. “Christine let’s go, it’s time for school.”

“Gotta go,” says Christine as she takes two steps before flicking her cigarette over the fence into the lot next door. As she walks past me, Christine’s face changes and a big grin appears. She is looking towards the house. 
I look to see where she is looking and there at the window is Vinny, standing behind the glass. Once Christine walks into the house she gives Vinny a quick kiss. As Christine passes, Vinny sticks his head out the back door, stares at me, puts his fingers to his eyes, then points at me. I assume this means that he is watching me. He turns and walks back into the house. I finish my cigarette, flick it over the fence like Christine did, and walk back into the house.




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