Total pages in book: 76
Estimated words: 70429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 70429 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 352(@200wpm)___ 282(@250wpm)___ 235(@300wpm)
“What’s goin’ on?” the man asked as the woman finally stopped talkin’ and yellin’.
Kathy shushed him, said he just needed to get her to the police station. She held onto me, rocking me in her arms, crying her eyes out. I heard her whisper in the man’s ear, but couldn’t make out what she said. I figured it was something about the dishes in the sink. She didn’t seem to like seeing that too much.
Then, he said, “Good Lord…”
Things got a bit blurry and strange after that. I was suddenly talking to police officers in a building that was made of red bricks, and men and women moved about in their dark blue uniforms. My eyes strained on the guns hanging from their hips, and I wondered if they, too, played cops and robbers like me and my friends in kindergarten. One officer strolled past, then returned with a cup of cocoa for me. I asked him about Sue. It was past her lunchtime. I knew it was, ’cause of where the sun was in the sky and Mama must’ve still been asleep, because that Kathy lady was pretty upset when she saw her.
“Where’s Sue? I need to get Sue,” I said to almost everyone who walked past me.
No one had an answer. I explained that Mama needed to come down from there so she could make dinner, and that her friend was awfully sore about her not coming to work. A lady cop bent down low to my level, her dark brown eyes watery, but she kept a nice smile, and nodded at me. As she wiped a tear from her face, she shook her head in a pitiful sort of way, kissed my cheek, then walked away.
I sat there, on a hard chair with someone else’s teddy bear, for a long while. It had to be someone else’s because it sure as heck wasn’t mine. I hadn’t let go of my purple crayon. It felt warm wedged between the skin of my palm, and my tightening fingers. Another officer approached me, a man with wheat-colored hair and tiny blue eyes. He had on glasses, too. He had a little scar on his cheek, and he dove eye level to me.
“Hey, buddy. We managed to find a relative of yours for you to stay with for a while… Your Aunt Angel. She’s comin’ to get you, all right?”
I nodded when he handed me an orange lollipop, then took my half empty cup of cocoa away. I didn’t want it anymore. It didn’t taste as good as when Mama made it. Shoving the sugary treat into my mouth, I folded my legs beneath me and looked about. I still didn’t see Sue, and nobody had told me if they’d cut my mama down, so she could feel better soon. She had to be sick because she’d been sleeping too long. That’s what she said grandmama did. Slept too long when she was sick. All of this hogwash in my mind was temporary. Mama had fallen asleep somehow. Yes, that’s what happened.
But then I heard two people talkin’. Someone said my mama was dead…
She wasn’t dead. She couldn’t be. Mamas were supposed to live forever. I tightened my arms around that strange teddy bear that smelled like Kool-Aid, and buried my chin against the top of his soft tawny head.
I closed my eyes. I could hear chatter all around me. Moanin’ and cryin’… Whispers. I could hear people walking about. When I opened my eyes again, I saw some folks with handcuffs on, and lots of computers on desks making strange noises. The phones seemed to ring non-stop, and I’d become suddenly enamored with a watercooler in the corner of the room. Every time someone grabbed an ice-cream cone shaped cup from the dispenser, they’d push down on some little lever, and a bunch of bubbles would show up in the water. It was fun to watch. I imagined a scuba diver in there, one so tiny he couldn’t be seen, except for his bubbles… His breathing… exhaling… inhaling through a little mask.
“There he is,” a policeman said, pointing to me.
I didn’t know who he was talking to, but soon, I heard footsteps dashing in my direction, stealing me from my thoughts. I looked over and saw my Aunt Angel racin’ towards me, her arms wide open, and tears rushing down her face. Aunt Angel had on a long light green jacket with tan fur around the collar. Her black hair was pulled back from her face, and all I could see was my mama in her eyes.
I burst out cryin’. I don’t know why…
Now, it didn’t seem to matter anymore if I colored in between the lines.
It didn’t matter no more if my bed was made, and my toys picked up.