04-10-2014, 12:07 AM
One day Tucker decided to say not the opposite but not quite
how he felt,
and when somebody asked him if he was tired,
and he was, to say
"Yep" in a good-natured tone instead of a sympathetic one.
Also it was that time of the year that time
when daddy started to leave food in the microwave he'd put in there
till it had got cold, and wouldn't even remember to get it
after he went in the room to watch tv.
He'd go to bed without remembering what he warmed up.
It was funny and painful for Tucker,
having graduated high school then lost his first girl
and his first job in the same month.
What was even worse was that Desiree, his sister,
was somehow scarred for life
by something she got from a tick bite.
But that wasn't all . . .
"It was a 'roaring success'; I mean, 'a foreign distress,'
the doctor said. I always get those mixed up."
Was what mama said, back from to see the doctor
with D.
"We spent about a whole mile just trying remember
what he said."
That's what she continued to say.
When daddy got home that night,
he didn't like it;
so they had to hear about it.
After he was drunk,
he came out and said the exact same things over again
only meaner this time.
When Tucker was 13 or so, and Frankie wasn't around,
he and the older boys would stay out
all night in the woods,
playing war. And it was Tucker's favorite game,
as he didn't find anything quite as fun before or since;
though he always had to worry,
thinking daddy was going to kill mama and the little ones
since daddy was so mad and drunk and always breaking things,
might as soon break a person,
Tucker thought,
with his anxiety disorder.
So he could never really enjoy his favorite game
that few times he got to play it.
They'd use walkie talkies and walk around.
He hoped he wasn't too old
to ever do that again.
And maybe next time be allowed to enjoy it.
how he felt,
and when somebody asked him if he was tired,
and he was, to say
"Yep" in a good-natured tone instead of a sympathetic one.
Also it was that time of the year that time
when daddy started to leave food in the microwave he'd put in there
till it had got cold, and wouldn't even remember to get it
after he went in the room to watch tv.
He'd go to bed without remembering what he warmed up.
It was funny and painful for Tucker,
having graduated high school then lost his first girl
and his first job in the same month.
What was even worse was that Desiree, his sister,
was somehow scarred for life
by something she got from a tick bite.
But that wasn't all . . .
"It was a 'roaring success'; I mean, 'a foreign distress,'
the doctor said. I always get those mixed up."
Was what mama said, back from to see the doctor
with D.
"We spent about a whole mile just trying remember
what he said."
That's what she continued to say.
When daddy got home that night,
he didn't like it;
so they had to hear about it.
After he was drunk,
he came out and said the exact same things over again
only meaner this time.
When Tucker was 13 or so, and Frankie wasn't around,
he and the older boys would stay out
all night in the woods,
playing war. And it was Tucker's favorite game,
as he didn't find anything quite as fun before or since;
though he always had to worry,
thinking daddy was going to kill mama and the little ones
since daddy was so mad and drunk and always breaking things,
might as soon break a person,
Tucker thought,
with his anxiety disorder.
So he could never really enjoy his favorite game
that few times he got to play it.
They'd use walkie talkies and walk around.
He hoped he wasn't too old
to ever do that again.
And maybe next time be allowed to enjoy it.