Itchy Donner by Doug Lambeth

Author:Doug Lambeth
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: families, idaho, donner party, children of divorce, loggers
Publisher: Doug Lambeth

Irene stood at the door for a long time. The shock faded. So did the anger. Sadness was the only thing left. The poor guy—he was lost, confused, a mess. Jacqueline had been right about his crush on her. Why couldn’t she see it? Stupid naïve Irene, oblivious to the obvious, as usual. How many other important things didn’t she notice?

When she and Red had gotten married, everybody knew that it was a mistake—except her. Was letting Red back into her and Itchy’s life another catastrophe in the making? And Father Ray, how could she have missed the signs? Sure, he puppy-dogged her, she saw how nervous he was around her, but she thought it was kind of cute. It never occurred to her that it might be a problem. How could she have known that Father Ray’s infatuation was so...real?She decided to tell no one what had happened. Some things needed to stay secret. She’d continue as usual, she’d go to mass, go to communion, but not look Father Ray in the eye, and definitely not chat after mass. She’d never mention what happened—or let him mention it—again.

She stayed outside and gazed into the starry night sky until Red dropped Itchy off. Red gave her a honk and a friendly wave and drove away. Red. He was starting to seem like the most normal and dependable thing in her world. Did what he needed to do, worked hard, tried to fix his mistakes, was fun to be around and never mopey—okay, kind of loud and crude, but that was part of his charm. Irene caught herself smiling. She never thought that Red could make her smile again. Strange.

“Hey, Mom,” Itchy said as he bounded to the door. The toe of his gigantic high-top imitation Nike caught on an invisible seam and he stumbled. Pre-teen clumsiness had started to plague him. Red had laughed about it, telling Irene, “He’s just gotta grow into them goddamn huge feet. Must be like walkin’ around on skis all the time.”

“Hi, honey,” Irene said to Itchy.

“What’d Father Ray want?”

“Nothing. Just talk.”

“How come you’re standing outside?”

“Just waiting for you, sweetie.” He tried to slither by, but she caught him and held on. He squirmed. “Not so fast. Cost you a hug.” Itchy knew resistance was futile, so he gave her a half-hearted hug back. “Did your dad feed you something nasty?” she asked.

“Um....”

“Don’t even bother trying to protect him.”

“Maybe some Pringles. And maybe a Mountain Dew.”

“’Maybe’?”

Itchy grinned a con-man’s grin. “I’m not saying exactly.”

“That sounds like something your father would say.”

“He’s teaching me to be Red-like. That’s what he calls it.”

“Wonderful. Like one of him isn’t enough.”

“He says we’re gonna win all the stuff we enter in Logger Days. Do you think so?”

“Winning isn’t everything, Itchy.”

“But do you think we have a chance?”

“We might.”

“Dad says you’re stronger than shit.”

“Itchy!”

“Well, that’s what he says!”

“You don’t need to repeat it. Your father’s mostly a good guy but he has a filthy mouth.”

Irene rubbed Itchy’s shoulder. The psoriasis patch on his cheek was in a semi-dormant phase, barely visible.

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