We Love Anderson Cooper by R.L. Maizes

Author:R.L. Maizes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Celadon Books

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Charlotte and her mother ate dinner at the mall to escape the heat. The air-conditioning at the house was still broken. After the meal, they strolled past an ice-cream shop. Names of a dozen flavors were painted in pastel colors on the window, and the smell of a freshly pressed waffle cone drifted out the door. Charlotte remembered the kid behind the counter growing exasperated when her father wanted to sample every flavor. “How else will I know which is best?” her father had asked, tiny plastic spoons accumulating in his large hand, while Charlotte hid behind her mother, pretending not to know him. Now she wished she’d tried all those flavors with him.

Three women in shorts and sneakers powered by, step counters on their wrists and plastic water bottles in their hands. Regret lodged in Charlotte’s chest. What a small thing it would have been to give the bird water.

A man wheeled a toddler in a stroller. Outside a toy-shop window, the boy pointed and said, “Truck,” and the man repeated it.

“Ollipop,” said the boy, as they passed a candy store.

“Lollipop,” the man corrected, bending to dust bangs from the boy’s eyes and kiss him on the forehead.

Charlotte watched, unable to turn away, until the pair disappeared into a restaurant. She wondered how long the boy would have his father and how he would lose him. When her mother took her hand, she didn’t object.

In a pet-shop window, a parakeet cocked its head. “Is this where you got him?”

“He was supposed to cheer you up.”

“It was like you were gone, too,” Charlotte said to her mother’s reflection.

“I know.”

Charlotte leaned forward, her fingers smudging the glass. The bird had a blush of red feathers on its face and green markings on its wings. Charlotte saw other birds, too, but none of them was Mellie, who was buried, wings ruffled and dirty, under chicken bones and mashed potatoes. Parakeets, cockatiels, and African grays, seeds and pellets, screeches and chirps, filled the store. Charlotte turned away, dragging her mother along, birds continuing to flutter before her eyes. When they came to an exit, she pulled Elisha through, welcoming the ferocious blast of heat that made it impossible to think or remember.

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