Tell that to Mrs Gill Because of my amnesia I forgot to make your lunch again I thought that sounded like the crazy sort of thing kindergarten teachers hear every day Okay Artie said And don’t mention Mom’s away We had already discussed this He nodded to show he understood how important it was that we kept this information to ourselves And if you get a lot of stuff don’t eat it all I said Bring some home AT THE END of the day I spread out on the table everything that Artie had brought from school Cheese stick fruit leather four halves of different kinds of sandwiches jam ham and cheese plain cheese and something that looked like butter A butter sandwich The kid probably ate the meat and just handed over the bread A granola bar and an apple I took our last can of tomato soup from the cupboard and heated it with more water than the label said so it would seem like more Then the phone rang and I ran to answer it Mom I said I’m looking for Debbie a man said She’s out
This is Greg from Pay-N-Save Thump thump thump thump thump I put my hand to my chest but it was Artie in Mom’s room throwing a ball against the wall Greg he said again Her boss Maybe she forgot she had one Can you give her a message Sure I said trying to sound casual This time the thump thump thump really was my heart Tell her not to bother coming back Ever She’s blown it Then he said I’m surprised She was a good worker Honest dependable Or so I thought I hung up on him and went back to the kitchen counter still thumping I kept back one of the sandwich halves and the cheese stick for Artie’s lunch the next day even though I was one hundred per cent positive that Mom would turn up by morning She’d go back to Pay-N-Save Gas and Greg would change his mind Then when we woke up she would be home again pouring out cereal for us I divided the rest of the food Artie brought home and splashed the soup into bowls My hands were shaking Supper’s ready AFTER SUPPER I made Artie take a bath I had to wrestle him down to get his shirt off
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
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
