“Oh shit. How did you know?”
“You told me. Please hurry. You’re heavy.”
“I told you I’m a soldier? Wow. I must really like you. Did I tell you about my brother, too?”Why do I sound drunk?
“Nope. Maybe we should call him to help get you up these stairs.”
Call Abe? Yeah. I wish we could call Abe.
Macy fumbles with her keys, and I lean on her so I can help. She falls into the door, making a loud banging sound when her head connects with it.
“Shhhh.” I tell her.She’s going to wake the neighbors. Sheesh.
She holds her palm against her forehead as she glares at me the way my mom used to when I ruined good clothes at the creek.I don’t know how it’s my fault that she’s making so much noise.Finally, she gets the door open, and I help her inside, but she’s the one panting and struggling. You’d think she was carrying bags of cement the way she’s carrying on.
Finally, I get us into her bedroom. I’m not sure how I know where it is, but I go straight to it, and we only hit the walls in the hallway twice. She pushes me onto the bed, and I bounce. It’s possible that I fell onto the bed, but I find that highly unlikely.
“Elijah, I need you to move. Please. Just do this one last thing, and you can pass out, okay?”
“Pass out. Got it.”
“No, no, no. Elijah. Elijah!”
“I’m right here. You don’t have to yell. Damn it, woman. You’re going to wake our neighbors.”
“They’re my neighbors, and you’re the one crashing into the walls and doors. I just need you to scoot up a little further in the bed and roll onto your stomach.”
“Your neighbors, crash on my stomach. Okay.”
She lets out what sounds like a frustrated breath before she over-enunciates her next words, “Scoot up in the bed.”
I look up toward the headboard and,why does it look so far?Do it. It’s going to make her happy. We like her happy.I scoot as close to it as I can, but my body is somewhere else, and I can’t go far without it.
“Okay. That’s good enough. Now, roll over.”
I look down at her. “Do we have a dog?”
She slaps a palm to her forehead. “You don’t live here. Please, roll over onto your stomach.”
I comply, even though her hands are clearly empty of any treats.
“Oh, thank God.” She sounds so relieved.I did some good rolling over. I’m not even upset that she doesn’t have treats. She’s proud of me.
Keys jingle as Macy scoops them up off the floor and leaves the room. She’s gone for so long that I try to get up to go find her, but my boots are talking, and it would be rude to interrupt their conversation. Finally, she comes back and starts rummaging through drawers. She has clothes in her hands as she walks into another room. She’s making me dizzy with all this moving around. When she reenters the room, she’s wearing silky baby blue night things.Bed clothing. Sheets. Sleep suit. Shit. There’s another word somewhere. I can’t find it.
She definitely isn’t wearing a tit halter. Booby bundler. Ah fuck it.
“Macy?” Nothing. She doesn’t respond and continues moving around the room. “Macy?” Still nothing. “Macy?!”
Suddenly, she stops and looks over at me. She looks guilty. “Yeah?”
“Did you not hear me? I said your name nine times.”
She splutters out a small laugh. “Yeah. I’m sorry. I heard you. Are you okay?”
“Yeah. I need you to put my legs back on before your parents get here. You know...I was thinking. Maybe your dad didn’t have a penis.”
“You did not just say that.”
