B000FCJYE6 EBOK by Marya Hornbacher Read Free Book Online Page A

boy you can be a goddamn doctor if you goddamn want to be a goddamn doctor. You tell him that.”
    He harrumphed back into the couch, pleased with himself.
    “A woman can do what she likes, these days,” he announced.
    I nodded, a little overwhelmed.
    “Take your mother, for example.” He swallowed his drink and sighed with satisfaction. “Now, there’s a great lady.” He looked out the window. “Day I met her, I’ll tell you, I thought to myself, Now, this one’s smart as a whip. This one’s a keeper. Heh,” he said, smiling at the thought. “A lady who knew what she wanted and wouldn’t nobody stop her. You meet that kind of lady, you think, I made her up in my head. You know the dumbest thing your mother ever did?” he asked suddenly.
    I shook my head.
    “Married me,” he said, chuckling and getting to his feet. As he shuffled out of the room, I heard him say, bewildered, “Never know what got into that woman.”
    I sat there awhile, then got up and knocked on Esau’s door.
    “What?” he yelled.
    “It’s me.”
    “So?”
    “So let me in.”
    “What for?”
    “Come out, then.”
    “What for?”
    I thought about that. “Let’s make dinner for them.”
    There was a silence, then a shuffling of sheets, and Esau opened the door, looking rumpled. “Okay,” he said, and we went to the kitchen.
    He set a pot of water on the stove and got out a box of macaroni and cheese. I asked, “Were you in bed?”
    “What do you care?”
    “I don’t care. I was just wondering.” I yanked open the refrigerator to get butter and milk. “You’re so mean lately. You can stay in bed all the time, for all I care.”
    He dumped the macaroni into the water and fished out the packet of cheese. “I’m not mean,” he said.
    I snorted.
    “I’m not,” he said, sitting down on the floor and putting his head on his knees. “I’m sad.”
    I looked down at him. “Why?”
    He shrugged. Uselessly, I watched the macaroni boil.
    “Do you want to watch TV?” I asked. “I could bring you some when it’s done.”
    He went and lay down on the couch. I followed him. “Do you want the blanket?”
    “Okay.”
    I put the blanket over him and turned on the TV. “Mom will be home soon,” I said.
    He nodded.
    I hesitated, then went back to the kitchen. As I was stirring in the cheese, my mother came in. I didn’t look up.
    “Esau’s sad,” I said. “He’s on the couch.”
    She went past me and into the living room, and I heard her murmuring.
    I was tired of everyone except Davey.
     
     
     
    The four of us ate quietly in front of the TV that night. My father sat next to Esau with his arm around him and Esau folded into his side. My mother brought him his medicine, and he fell asleep with his head in my father’s lap. My father carried him into his room as if he was dead.
    My mother looked around at the dishes and said, “Well.” She gathered them up and went into the kitchen.
    My father closed Esau’s door carefully, went over to the bar, and sat down at the dining-room table with his drink.
    “Claire,” he called. My mother came to the kitchen doorway, her hands in rubber gloves.
    “Sit down with me a minute?” my father asked. My mother hesitated, her mouth opening. She crossed the room. She sat across from him, perched on her chair.
    “What, Arnold,” she said finally.
    He shook his head, as if to shake himself awake. “I just thought we might talk this over.”
    “What’s to say?” My mother rubbed the bridge of her nose.
    “Claire, I want—” He stopped. He rubbed his cheek.
    “What do you want, Arnold,” she said, shifting in her chair.
    Esau back, I thought. He wants Esau back.
    He smiled at her and shook his head. “Nothing.” He cleared his throat. “The medicine should help soon,” he said, gently. She nodded, looking away.
    She rose and took his empty glass. She turned to go back into the kitchen. My father said, “Wait.”
    She paused. She stood there.
    He reached one arm out