All the Ugly and Wonderful Things(112)

“You wanted to protect me. I know. We’re going to be okay.”

“I’m glad,” Mom whispered. She actually sounded it.

The front door snapped open and Donal skulked into the dining room holding a Styrofoam cup. Fumbling in one of his sweatshirt pockets, he pulled out a handful of crumpled bills and the car keys. When he laid them on the table next to Kellen’s plate, a few coins rolled loose and fell on the floor.

“Oh jeez,” he said, seeing us all looking weepy.

“It’s okay. I think we’re done crying,” I said.

Donal reached out and laid his hand on the back of Wavy’s neck.

“Icy paws,” she said and swatted him away. For a second he cracked a smile.

Then she picked up her plate and carried it out to the kitchen. Kellen followed her with the ham platter, and Donal trailed after them.

When I took what was left of the pie into the kitchen, the three of them were standing at the sink. Donal and Wavy were both eating off her plate and Kellen was washing dishes. Seeing them next to each other, I figured out what was different about Wavy. The top of her head almost reached Kellen’s armpit. She had grown.



ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Bryn Greenwood is a fourth-generation Kansan and the daughter of a mostly reformed drug dealer. She earned an MA from Kansas State University and continues to work in academia as an administrator. Her essays and short fiction have appeared in The New York Times, Chiron Review, Kansas Quarterly, Karamu, and The Battered Suitcase. She lives in Lawrence, Kansas. You can sign up for email updates here.