Downpour by Christopher Hawkins

Author:Christopher Hawkins [Hawkins, Christopher]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2023-10-02T16:00:00+00:00

20

The bucket in Jacob’s room had overfilled and run over. The carpet all around it was sodden and dark. Scott stood in the doorway—Tallie still crying, still pressed to his chest—and stared at the ceiling. The drip had grown into a steady, pencil-width stream. All around the spot, the ceiling had turned gray, the plaster bulging, suffused with a roadmap of dark tendrils just under the paint, like varicose veins.

Scott lifted Tallie into Jacob’s arms. “Stay out of there,” he said, and started back down the stairs. “Keep her out out of there.”

He took the steps two at a time, and landed hard at the bottom. The heavy rubber gloves were on the coffee table where he’d left them. He snatched them up and made it partway up the stairs again before he stopped and reversed himself. The bucket wasn’t going to be enough, not with the way the water was coming in. He careened into the kitchen, throwing open cabinets, searching under the sink. He would have given anything for another of the big buckets, but he had left them in the shed with everything else that was out of his reach. He settled on the box of black garbage bags and hoped it would be enough.

“All right, stay back,” he said, and Jacob backed away down the hallway. Tallie was quiet now, and that was something. He’d talk to her as soon as he was done, apologize for being so rough. Daddy was just scared, he’d tell her, and it wouldn’t be a lie.

The bucket was full to the brim with cloudy gray water, it’s sides bulging out of shape, melting. When he grabbed it with his gloved hands it buckled and the water sloshed over the side. It couldn’t be helped, but he sound of the water plopping onto the already-wet carpet still made him wince. He carried the bucket out, trying to go slow but still moving too fast, his arms out in front of him like he was holding something on fire. Heavy drops splashed onto the hallway floor, and he took dancing steps to keep from getting his feet wet.

When he got to the bathroom he dumped the bucket out in the tub, wincing again at the thought of what the rainwater might be doing to the drainpipes. They were ancient, probably made of lead, and he didn’t know if that was better or worse. It was a problem for later, though. The problem for right now was still coming down from the bedroom ceiling. He got the bucket back under it, yanking his hand back when the first few drops splashed up from the bottom.

“Did you get any on you?”

Jacob stood in the doorway, bouncing Tallie to calm her, the way Dana always did. He stared at Scott, not comprehending.

“Downstairs!” Scott said. “Did you get any water on you?”

“No.”

“Are you sure?” he lunged closer, looking over his son’s hands, looking for spots of wetness on his shoulders, on his sleeves.

“Dad! I’m sure!”

Scott caught

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