It Was 2052 by Richardson J

Author:Richardson, J. [Richardson, J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: J. Richardson
Published: 2014-12-27T08:00:00+00:00

***

On the fourth floor of the Luciano Village, the large fan whirred in the small rooms of Anissa, her father and son. The steamy smoke from the rice dish she cooked drifted out the square of screen high on their one window. She smiled, her father was always very smart and inventive. Of course, the windows in high rise buildings are stationary, they don't open if it's above the first floor. She and her father both hated the stuffy feeling of no outside air. Very carefully, he taped off, scored and slowly worked on breaking out a square of the window glass. It was high enough for the boy not to reach it and they kept a piece of screen taped over the opening. In the colder season, they taped plastic over the screen. At least, some fresh air could enter and the fumes of their cooking could exit.

There was a tapping at the door, Lee's short plump legs pumped up and down, “Chel-ly, Momma, Chelly is here!”

Anissa had to laugh, “Yes, Shelly is here. Come in.”

The door opened and the young cocoa skinned woman stepped in and swung the toddler up and around, “Oh-h, there's my sweet boy.” The toddler's arms encircled her neck and he giggled as he laid his head on her shoulder.

“Smells good, I'm starved,” she said as she sat down in a chair with the baby.

As Anissa put some plates of the rice dish on the small table, the father went over and locked the door. He had noticed the bandage on his daughter's hand but asked no questions. There was no

point in asking about things he had no control over. He was old, he was weary, he already had seen and knew much more than he ever wished. Shelly fed the boy a bite of the rice mixture and they all laughed as he said yum,yum.

“Would you like to go to the park with Momma tomorrow?” Anissa said to Lee. The father and the friend both got a worried look but didn't comment.

“Yea! The park. Can I see the ducks?”

“Sure, we'll see the ducks,” smiled Anissa.

They finished the meal and a little later, the father carried the toddler down the hall to the bathroom to clean him up for bed. Shelly looked at the calender on the wall that Anissa's father so carefully created and kept up. “Tomorrow is Thursday. Are you sure that you want to go to the park?” she said.

“Yes, I'm sure.”

The grandfather returned and took his towel wrapped grandson into the small bedroom to get him to sleep.

Shelly and Anissa sat at the small table, cleared of supper. The friend whispered, “You are going to get him hurt.”

The mother gave her a stricken look, “I would never endanger Lee, never. I promise you, I am not---will not, do anything that puts him at risk.”

With a look of remorse and a soft pat to the bandage on her friend's hand, Shelly said, “Of course not. That was a crappy thing for me to say.

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