Oh My Stars by Lorna Landvik

Author:Lorna Landvik [Landvik, Lorna]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-345-48478-9
Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
Published: 2005-04-19T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fifteen

BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.BZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ …

Well, you get the idea. Imagine that sound so deep in your ear canal that it’s in your brain, that it’s as integral a sound in your body as the beating of your heart. I didn’t know until decades later that it had a name—tinnitus—and that I wasn’t the only one afflicted with it. For the longest time I thought it was a special curse all my own; that I alone had been singled out to suffer. Sometimes late at night the buzzing wouldn’t let me go to sleep, and there were still instances when I thought I’d truly be driven insane, but those months were so happy, with so many moments of bliss, for crying out loud, that it almost seemed a fair trade: unrelenting, maddening noise in my ears for being with Kjel and the Pearltones.

It’s not hard to figure out that clichés got to be clichés because of the general truths they impart; still, the one I’ve always hated is, “All good things must come to an end.” My question is, why? Why does life have to obey the laws of gravity? Why does happiness always have to have a flip side? Why did that enchanted spring of 1938 have to dry up and fester into summer?

Of course you don’t get to be my age without learning that “Why?” is the million-dollar question—the who-what-where-when-and-how questions reporters try to answer are a piece of cake compared to the why. If you’re able to explain the why, you’re able to explain everything, and when’s the last time you were that smart?

“My boys!” said Mrs. Sykes when Dallas and Austin entered her bedroom. “My boys are home!”

Odessa, from her chair next to the bed, watched as her brothers embraced their mother and muttered, “It’s about time.”

“Dessa!” said Austin, turning from his mother to hug her. “How’ve you been, girl?”

Before she spoke, he sensed the answer; her body was thin and brittle and uninterested in returning his embrace.

“Tired is what I am. While you two gallivant all over the place, I’m the one taking care of Mama—I’m the one hauling her off to the doctors, making her take medicine she doesn’t want to take, taking care of her every need, including the ones that happen in the toilet, if you catch my particular drift, and if you think that’s a picnic, then I say, ‘Well, you’re more than welcome to pack your basket, spread out your blanket, and join us!’ ”

“Dessa,” scolded Austin, nodding toward his mother.

“She doesn’t know what we’re saying!” said Odessa. “And even if she did, she’s forgotten it already!”

“Mama,” said Dallas, sitting on the side of her bed, his long-fingered hands forming a dome over her tiny gnarled ones. “Mama, how’ve you been?”

“How do you think she’s—”

“Shhh!” said Dallas, glaring at his sister. “I didn’t ask you, Dessa, I asked Mama.”

“I’m fine, Dallas, real fine,” said the shrunken woman, smiling at the attention. “Now you go tell your father to crank up the Ford ’cause I’m fixing to go for a ride in the country.

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.