Chips of Red Paint by Beckner K. Martin

Author:Beckner, K. Martin [Beckner, K. Martin]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Published: 2013-05-07T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10

The sound of a rooster crowing slowly woke me up that next morning. Before opening my eyes, I entertained the idea that everything that had occurred the previous day had all been a dream, that I was back in my own bed, and that the crowing rooster was one of the poodle roosters that my mom raised. My mom, of course, would be in the kitchen cooking up some pancakes. After eating I’d ride my bike over to Charlie’s, and we’d horse around all day. I opened my eyes to the same sparse cabin of the night before.

I sat up in bed and looked around. Charlie was still asleep. To my surprise, the room did not look as scary in the friendly and familiar sunlight that shone through the windows. The only other piece of furniture in the room was a chest of drawers to the right of the front window. Above the chest of drawers hung a very old, yellowish oval-shaped photo of an angry looking man and woman. I had heard that people used to have to sit for a long time to get their picture taken, and I figured that was why the couple looked so irritated, as I was sure I would have been. I got out of bed and put the clothes back on that I’d worn the previous day.

“Where are you going?” Charlie asked, stirring from sleep.

“Just getting up,” I said.

“I’m going to have to find the bathroom.”

“Yeah, I could use one myself.” I looked out the window and saw a few chickens pecking around in the yard. That explained the sound of the rooster crowing.

Charlie got out of bed, dressed, and we walked into the kitchen together.

“It’s about time you two got up,” said Mr. Miller, startling us. “Thought you two were going to sleep all day. It’s already seven o’clock.”

“Seven o’clock is early,” said Charlie. “I can’t believe I woke up so early.”

“I’m up at five every morning. It don’t matter how late I get to bed. I got this internal alarm clock that wakes me up. I don’t need no alarm clock like most people.”

“We’re looking for the bathroom,” I said.

“It’s out back.”

“That’s a weird place for the bathroom,” said Charlie.

“I guess you rich kids never heard of such a thing as an outhouse.”

“I’ve heard of it,” I said. “I just never knew anybody that had one.”

“I’ve lived my whole life without having one of them highfalutin indoor bathrooms, and I’ve gotten along just fine. People don’t need as much as they think they do sometimes. I built that little outhouse myself years ago. It’s got the moon window and all. You can’t have a proper outhouse without a moon window.”

“What’s the moon window for?” asked Charlie.

“What do you think it’s for? It lets in a little air and a little light. The moon, of course, is a crescent moon. That way it ain’t big enough for people to be sticking their head in and looking.”

Charlie and I laughed. “Who in the world would want to do that?” asked Charlie.

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