Rabbit
I decided to stay in
bed this morning. Never the greatest idea for surely I will miss
something, or worse, get a call from the office to rush down because
I forgot I had an appointment with the income tax man. Knowing
all this, I still took the risk. Ruth...Ruth... The sound was
coming from my open window. I smashed my toe while groping for
the curtain as I tried to cover my nude body so I could get to
the window. ''Who is it? Who is it?'' There was no answer. It
sounded like a girl, but which one? All possibilities of someone
in need went through my head. And speaking of heads, mine needed
to be put under the cold shower so I could remember my own needs.
My instincts told me that the door might open at any moment, so
I took precautions not to panic while in the shower. As I stepped
out of the shower, my anxieties were not lessened. I could hear
the door opening. ''Who is it? Who is it?........." There stood
Kim with her sunglasses on. ''I went to L'Elizabeth's, then to
the coffee shop,'' Kim said like she thought something was wrong
with me. ''Hey, I worked last night, and I'm getting some idea
of what it's like to be woken up when one is tired." I thought
about the day before when I woke Tommie up at six in the morning
after he had about two hours sleep and was not responsive to what
I had to say. ''I'm going over to the island. Do you want me to
bring anything over?'' Kim said. ''No.'' I still was not with
it. She is looking at me with bright eyes even though they are
still covered by her sunglasses. ''Peter is waiting for me." Oh,
I said. ''What boat are you taking?'' The nine. Oh, I said again
looking at the clock. Now Peter is coming up the stairs. ''Is
that Peter?'' I said still wrapped in my towel. Now it's the two
of them with bright eyes standing in the hallway like headlights
coming at me. Why did I go back to bed? I was grateful for the
cold shower I had just taken, it prepared me for the small talk
that was going back and forth like a slow-motion movie. ''Guess
what we found in our backyard this morning?" Kim said. What? A
dead rabbit. Oh, I said. After just returning from the house on
BlockIsland. where there were baby frogs in the bathroom, I gave
the news of a dead rabbit in one's backyard not a big piece of
yarn. I looked at the clock again. ''Are you taking the nine o'clock
boat?" ''The dead rabbit,'' she repeated. ''The dead rabbit.''
While still in my towel--with wet hair that was a plus since I
was already starting to feel the heat-- came the dawn. ''Don't
fool with me, Kim.'' Those bright eyes were now filling up with
tears of joy, so it was starting to reach me: Kim was pregnant!
With my head still out of it, I made my rounds to the banks. This
great-looking black lady taking my deposit looked up at me and
said ''Are you from L' Elizabeth's? That is such a great place.
Who is the handsome guy at the door?" She lost her color when
I answered, ''Oh, the one who got my daughter pregnant?''
Copyright; Ruth Mahoney
21-Aug-89
