I'll Be Watching by Pamela Porter

Author:Pamela Porter
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Groundwood Books Ltd
Published: 2011-09-03T00:00:00+00:00

Nora Loney

I was boiling clothes in the washtub

on the stove, rubbing my knuckles raw

on the scrubbing board,

listening to Glenn Miller on the CBC

when I jumped at the sound

of a pounding on the door.

John Argue held Jim and Addie

by the coat collar, one in each fist.

He dragged them inside the house

without letting either go.

Beside him stood Constable Fortin, RCMP.

Jim said, “I’m very sorry, Mr. Argue. Sir.

I swear I didn’t see him do that.”

Mr. Argue leered at me. “Did you know, Little Miss,

that your cretin has been stealing from me?”

At that moment

he threw both boys to the floor

and produced the goods he’d pulled

from Addie’s pockets.

Constable Fortin stood over us

as Mr. Argue demanded Addie be arrested.

I held Addie to me, stared both of them down,

as much Mama as I could muster, and said,

“How in heaven’s name can you arrest a seven-year-old child?”

We paid Mr. Argue inflated prices for his goods,

listened to him carry on about how Addie

belonged at Weyburn.

“Addie is not leaving my side.”

I looked them both in the eyes,

as if to dare them.

Both men left

when we agreed Addie was never

to enter the Mercantile again.

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