One Day the Wind Changed by Tracy Daugherty

Author:Tracy Daugherty
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: One Day the Wind Changed
ISBN: 9781938604706
Publisher: Dzanc Books
Published: 2010-12-26T16:00:00+00:00

Amanda kicked in her sleep. How long had I dozed? Light from the television hurt my eyes. On the screen, an evangelist on a stage in front of a huge American flag smacked a woman on the forehead. She fell to the ground shouting, “Thank you, Jesus!” “Rise!” the preacher said.

My skin was warm where Stephanie’s open mouth touched my arm. Needles pierced my legs. A stale ground beef odor tinged the air.

Gently, I lifted my wrist. My watch said 2:46. The house was quiet. I figured I’d have heard Suzi if she’d come in. Could I stand up and get the girls to bed without disturbing them too much? Did I have the starch to make it back to Austin?

“Daddy?” Amanda said.

I glanced up. Dan stood in the doorway, his hair a sweaty tangle. Bleary. Clearing his throat. He wore no shirt. Stephanie stirred. I tightened my grip on the girls. They stared at their father. His belly heaved. He straightened his back and winced. “Praise Jesus!” said a TV pilgrim. “Son of a bitch,” Dan said, and took a step forward. He reached for his side, just above his belt. I realized he was cursing his pain. “Daddy?” Amanda said. We waited, the girls and I, to see where his ardor would lead him.

He rubbed his face. I stood and slid the girls from my lap. Dan didn’t speak. He picked up Stephanie, I grabbed Amanda, and we carried them to their bedroom. Adhesive stars on the walls glowed palely in the room. Right away, the girls conked out again. Dan kissed them and straightened with a groan. I backed through the doorway. “Well,” I said. “Thanks for the tacos.”

He ran a hand through his hair as if trying to make himself presentable—a gesture as absurd as my words.

“Say good-bye to Suzi for me,” I said.

Dan nodded.

On the road I looked for a late-night coffee shop. I pinched my arms to keep myself alert. I could have used a radio. Hooters, Denny’s, House of Pancakes—all closed.

I’d gotten away clean. Unmarked. “Congratulations,” I said to myself Then an image came to me of Suzi’s quiet house: the girls asleep beneath their phony stars, Dan drunk and snoring, sprawled half-dressed across his bed. Suzi coming home to find me gone. It was her own damn fault, I thought. Sacrificing others for the sake of her salvation. Yet she said she’d needed to see me. She’d written me for a reason. Maybe she was in trouble. Confused over Wayne and Dan. Maybe we would have spent all day talking about it. Who could stay in a house like that?

I remembered the night she’d banged her head against the tree. As she’d doubled over, bleeding, I’d looked up-looked away-to see my neighbor on the balcony.

Why think of this now?

I stopped at a flashing red traffic signal. Houston was empty. Pink and blue light poured from a shop window, illuminating a curb cluttered with paper cups and old hamburger wrappers. The light came from Portinari’s Fish Emporium.

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