Gravity of Birds by Guzeman Tracy

Author:Guzeman, Tracy [Guzeman, Tracy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781451689761
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

TEN

“What’d she look like, Miss Alice?” A hundred times, by her count, she’d asked Frankie not to call her that. Miss Kessler or Alice, either would have been preferable to the title that sent a quick shiver down her back, the unattractive hiss of it combined with her name. It made her feel every one of her fifty-eight years. But Phinneaus had raised his nephew with southern manners, and try as she might, she could not dissuade him.

“You’re supposed to be studying. And that’s an extremely impolite question to ask. What would your mother say?”

Frankie had the good sense to look mortified, at least momentarily, although Alice’s mortification probably surpassed his when she realized how thoughtless it was to bring up the boy’s mother. Fortunately, Frankie seemed more concerned that a report of his ill manners would find its way back to his uncle. “You won’t tell, will you, Miss Alice? I never knew a dead person before. I didn’t mean nothin’ by it.”

She looked at the boy, his mouth pursed, waiting for some word from her, and she widened her eyes. “Miss Natalie looked the same as she always did.” She paused for effect. “Only stiffer.”

She felt awful the moment she said it, macabre and unhinged. What was wrong with her? But Frankie whistled. That was just the sort of detail he’d longed for, gruesome enough to satisfy his cohorts and generic enough to allow for embellishment.

“And it’s anything. Not nothing.”

His face crumpled with the effort of sorting out her corrections. He had the vigorous curiosity of an eight-year-old boy; an expression like one foot in the grave opened the door to a whole universe of sinister imaginings. Frankie had heard Saisee use the expression some weeks ago about an aunt who was lingering. It was clear the idea had unnerved him by the way he clung to his uncle’s side until they’d passed the long block of the cemetery on the walk home from school.

“That’s what the fence is for, isn’t it, Phinneaus?”

“This fence?” he’d asked, grabbing hold of one of the speared iron posts.

“To keep people’s feet out. So they don’t get grabbed.”

Phinneaus told all of this to Alice later, the two of them collapsing into laughter. She’d felt a flood of affection for Phinneaus, thankful for the space he’d carved out for her once Frankie had come into his life, taking pains to keep their friendship intact. Frankie wasn’t hers, she’d never thought that. There was a mother, Phinneaus’s sister, who might someday decide to claim him again. But until then a part of the boy felt tethered to her, and for that she was grateful.

“You realize this means he thinks we’re old,” Phinneaus said. “Maybe not a foot in the grave, but he’s worried there’s a toe or two there. No wonder he keeps pullin’ me to the other side of the street.”

“Are we old?” Time had flown away from her, minutes like birds, gone in a flash of wing. How odd it was, all those years spent feeling old while she’d been young.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.