The Quiet Streets of Winslow by Judy Troy

Author:Judy Troy [Troy, Judy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781619023567
Publisher: Counterpoint

chapter twenty-six

TRAVIS ASPENALL

SUNDAY AFTERNOON MY father and I were driving home from Cave Creek with the boxer pacing in the back of the Jeep when we saw a coyote lying in the desert fifteen feet or so from the pavement. My father braked and pulled over. She had been hit recently, my father guessed, hit hard enough to have been killed on impact and thrown that far.

“People hit an animal and just leave it there,” Dad said. “How do you explain that?”

“What are they supposed to do?”

“Call Animal Control, like I’m about to. That’s what you do. Or if you live close by, and you’re a decent human being, you come back with a shovel. You bury it.”

“I guess people don’t think about that,” I said.

“They don’t think, period. That’s the point.”

In the back of Dad’s Jeep the dog was whining.

“Don’t be an irresponsible person,” my father said to me. “There’s no excuse for that. You have to know what it is you’re doing, admit to yourself what you’re doing, even if it’s difficult. That’s important.”

“I know that,” I said.

“Don’t just be reactive. You understand what I mean by that?”

“I guess.”

“Don’t just guess. Either know or ask.”

“Okay,” I said. “What does it mean?”

“It means don’t just do what your emotions dictate. Stop and think. Use your head. Use your intelligence.”

On his cell he called Animal Control, then started up the Jeep, which quieted down the dog, although she couldn’t seem to stop pacing.

“It’s all right,” my father said to the dog. “We’ll be home soon.” But his voice was tense and the dog kept going in circles.

My father had been like that around all of us lately, even my mother, who usually calmed him down, he had told me. That was one of the first things he had noticed about her. “Someday, Travis,” he had said, “you’ll want to find the person who’s going to do for you what you need.”

It was late afternoon and sunlight was streaking down from behind the clouds. The mountains looked gray and sort of unreal, like a movie set. We got onto the interstate, and my father watched the traffic while I looked out the side window, from where I could see trails in the wilderness made by dirt bikes and four-wheelers. I imagined myself on the dirt bike I wished I had, flying along with Harmony sitting behind me and her arms around my waist. We could get away from Black Canyon City, from school and our parents, from all the parts of our lives where we were supposed to be a certain way, accomplish certain things, have certain kinds of thoughts. We could take a break from all that, at least for a while, and I started picturing us getting off the dirt bike and making out and my taking off her blouse and seeing her golden skin in the sunlight.

“You have homework for tomorrow?” my father said.

“I’ve done most of it.”

“Well, whatever’s left, do it first thing. I don’t like you developing the habit of putting things off.

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.