Say Something Nice About Me by Sara Schaff

Author:Sara Schaff [Schaff, Sara]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: short stories, fiction, women, women's studies
ISBN: 9780988735583
Publisher: Augury Books
Published: 2018-02-01T00:00:00+00:00

For a little while, they all just sat around like that, watching a rerun of Quantum Leap. Instead of really watching it, she kept rubbing at the new stain on her coat, wondering what Luke was doing. Worrying, probably. Talking to Marti on the phone or shopping for glass online. She thought of calling to reassure him, but she didn’t want everyone listening to their conversation.

At some point, she must have fallen asleep. The television was still on with the volume muted, and she lay alone on the couch, a thin blanket tucked under her chin. Her cheeks felt cold, but she still had her coat on, and all her limbs were warm enough. Her mother came out from the bathroom, her bathrobe loosely tied. She’d always had trouble sleeping through the night.

“It’s snowing,” she said. She knelt on the ground next to Tuesday. “You need to be careful on the road in the morning.”

Tuesday nodded. Hot tears sprung into her eyes.

“Where you going, baby? You can tell me.”

How quickly her future was unfolding! She saw it clearly, all at once: painting the rooms of her rented cottage near the water, cleaning houses in the summer for vacationers, and pouring coffee for the locals in the little diner where she had eaten pancakes with Ann’s family. “The lake, Momma.”

It sounded crazy—driving north in this weather?

But her mother just said, “You need some money?” She fished into the pocket of her robe and handed Tuesday a neat pile of cash.

Tuesday didn’t know if her father was working. Even when he was, there had never been any extra money at the end of the month. When Tuesday had come to them, pregnant and afraid, her father had said, “We figured it out, so I guess you’ll have to.”

Without counting the bills, Tuesday wrapped her fist around them and closed her eyes.

For a long time, her mother just stayed on the ground, her back against the sofa, and she fell asleep sitting up. Tuesday couldn’t sleep and didn’t want to, now that she had a plan.

Except for her mother’s rabbity snores, everything was quiet: a wintery silence that made a person think better, that felt like an opening. It was still dark when Ann crept out the door.

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.