Skin by Napoli Donna Jo

Author:Napoli, Donna Jo [Napoli, Donna Jo]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Skyscape
Published: 2013-08-05T14:00:00+00:00

“MAMMA!” I RUN THROUGH the house looking for her. And there she is, on her knees, straightening the books in Dad’s study. They don’t need straightening. I can see by her cheek that she’s chewing on her tongue.

“What is it, Pina?” She sits back on her heels and studies the bookshelf as though it matters. And it dawns on me: having something go wrong for her child mystifies her. She’s helpless, and Mamma hates being helpless. I feel sorry for her, which surprises me, because feeling sorry for myself just about saturates me—there’s hardly room for anyone else.

“I’m taking Rattle for a walk.”

That makes her head turn toward me. “You never take Rattle for a walk without being asked.”

“I’m a new girl, remember?”

“Not that new.” She stands and leans over to rub the back of her knees. “It’s Friday afternoon and you just got home from school. This is collapse time for you.”

“So what? I want to take Rattle for a walk.”

“You’re not planning on meeting up with that Joshua, are you?”

“He’s just Joshua. Not ‘that Joshua.’ You know him, Mamma. You’ve known him forever. And he came over and apologized. What more do you want? Anyway, no. He has an away football game tonight. He couldn’t see me even if I broke your rules and ran off with him for the night. And I wouldn’t run off, anyway. You know that.”

“Do I? You’re a new girl.”

“Not that new.”

She gives a sad smile. “Okay, thanks. Rattle will enjoy it. He can still smell everything, at least. Don’t let him eat anything gross.”

“I know his habits, Mamma. I love him. I’ll keep him on a short leash.”

I go into the living room. Rattle’s asleep on Nonno’s old chair. I pet his head tenderly. “Hey, old boy. Wake up. Let’s go for a walk.”

He opens his bleary eyes and turns his big head to me. And I wonder if most blind people walk around with their eyes open behind their dark glasses. Or do they close them to keep out dirt and stuff? I’ve known blind kids. But I never thought to ask. Which is good, I guess. I mean, it would seem rude to ask something like that, it could hurt someone’s feelings, though it shouldn’t. But should doesn’t matter when it comes to feelings.

I might flip out if someone saw me in the shower and asked about my breast.

“Come on, Rattle.”

He drops his head back on his paws and closes his eyes again. Does he see anything?

I stare at him, trying to detect movement under those eyelids—a hint of what might be going on—when, zap, the idea comes. This is nine hundred times better than what I’d been planning.

I take the stairs as fast as I can and open my laptop and search Google. There it is: Om. The sound of light in Hindu scriptures. To one side of the explanation is the symbol for the sound. To the other side is a statue of the Buddha with that dot

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