Read Online As Simple as Snow by Gregory Galloway - Free Book Online
Authors: Gregory Galloway
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she said. Carl’s father didn’t say anything. Carl didn’t say anything. Then, without looking up, Mr. Hathorne said, “Tell him to get out of here before I blacken the other one.” He hadn’t even moved his head; he spoke directly to his coffee. My mother looked at Mr. Hathorne. We quickly went upstairs to my room.
“What do you think that’s all about?” Carl said.
We didn’t say anything about his eye. I don’t see how Mr. Hathorne could have beaten his son and then made it over to my house. I wasn’t going to bring it up unless Carl did.
“What do you suppose he’s doing here?” he said.
“Maybe he’s been helping my mom out,” I said. “She’s always getting somebody to do her work for her.”
“Maybe they finally kicked him out of the gas station,” Anna said.
“Maybe she’s trying to help him,” I said.
“Maybe they’re having an affair,” Carl said.
Carl’s dad was at the same table, drinking coffee, a few nights after that. It got so that Anna and I wanted to see if he was there, but we didn’t want to go at the same time. It made us uncomfortable. Carl always asked if we had seen him. “You’d think that if something was going on they wouldn’t just hang around drinking coffee after,” Anna said. “You’d think she’d get him the hell out of there before anyone saw him.”
“But maybe since we saw him that first time, they figured what the hell,” I said.
“It’s strange,” Carl said.
It got stranger.
One night I came back later than usual from Anna’s after school. I was late for dinner, which is usually a crime in my house, but that night no one said anything about it. I walked in the door and there were my parents, sitting at the ends of the table as usual, and there was Carl’s father, sitting at the table with them, at my spot. He was even eating off my plate. I didn’t know what to do, so I stood there in the kitchen with my coat on, looking at my place at the table.
“Where have you been?” my mother asked in almost a friendly tone.
“Over at Anna’s. I lost track of time. I’m sorry.”
“Well, get a plate and get some dinner while it’s still warm,” she told me.
Nothing more was said. I sat at the table across from Carl’s dad.
After dinner I went up to my room and called Carl. “What happened at your house?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he said.
“Your mom didn’t say anything?”
“No.”
“Well, guess what happened over here.”
“I don’t know.”
“Your father ate over here. And my dad was here too.”
“You’re not serious.”
“The three of them were sitting there as normal as can be.”
“Your dad didn’t do anything?”
“None of them did anything. We all ate dinner and then I came up here and called you. I think your dad left a few minutes ago.” Carl said that he would call me if anything happened at his house, but he didn’t call.
Carl’s father sat at my place at the table for the next five or six nights, and then it was over, without a word or a warning. This episode had ended, and no one said anything about his being in our house.
my heart, previously
Anna Cayne wasn’t my first girlfriend; I had dated Melissa Laughner in the spring of the same year. There was nothing wrong with Melissa Laughner. She was smart and nice and pretty, tall and thin, with straight brown hair. She wore glasses, sometimes, and she was quiet. Near the end of March her younger brother, Adam, had told Carl that she liked me, so I called her up one night and asked her if she wanted to go see a movie or something. She did. On the Friday of that week, her father drove us to Hilliker, where the nearest theater was, dropped us off, then picked us up when the movie was over. She said barely a word the whole time.
“I don’t think she likes me,” I told Carl on Monday.
“That’s not what her brother says.”
“Even after Friday?”
“He says she had a good time.”
“Maybe he’s just jerking me
“What do you think that’s all about?” Carl said.
We didn’t say anything about his eye. I don’t see how Mr. Hathorne could have beaten his son and then made it over to my house. I wasn’t going to bring it up unless Carl did.
“What do you suppose he’s doing here?” he said.
“Maybe he’s been helping my mom out,” I said. “She’s always getting somebody to do her work for her.”
“Maybe they finally kicked him out of the gas station,” Anna said.
“Maybe she’s trying to help him,” I said.
“Maybe they’re having an affair,” Carl said.
Carl’s dad was at the same table, drinking coffee, a few nights after that. It got so that Anna and I wanted to see if he was there, but we didn’t want to go at the same time. It made us uncomfortable. Carl always asked if we had seen him. “You’d think that if something was going on they wouldn’t just hang around drinking coffee after,” Anna said. “You’d think she’d get him the hell out of there before anyone saw him.”
“But maybe since we saw him that first time, they figured what the hell,” I said.
“It’s strange,” Carl said.
It got stranger.
One night I came back later than usual from Anna’s after school. I was late for dinner, which is usually a crime in my house, but that night no one said anything about it. I walked in the door and there were my parents, sitting at the ends of the table as usual, and there was Carl’s father, sitting at the table with them, at my spot. He was even eating off my plate. I didn’t know what to do, so I stood there in the kitchen with my coat on, looking at my place at the table.
“Where have you been?” my mother asked in almost a friendly tone.
“Over at Anna’s. I lost track of time. I’m sorry.”
“Well, get a plate and get some dinner while it’s still warm,” she told me.
Nothing more was said. I sat at the table across from Carl’s dad.
After dinner I went up to my room and called Carl. “What happened at your house?” I asked.
“Nothing,” he said.
“Your mom didn’t say anything?”
“No.”
“Well, guess what happened over here.”
“I don’t know.”
“Your father ate over here. And my dad was here too.”
“You’re not serious.”
“The three of them were sitting there as normal as can be.”
“Your dad didn’t do anything?”
“None of them did anything. We all ate dinner and then I came up here and called you. I think your dad left a few minutes ago.” Carl said that he would call me if anything happened at his house, but he didn’t call.
Carl’s father sat at my place at the table for the next five or six nights, and then it was over, without a word or a warning. This episode had ended, and no one said anything about his being in our house.
my heart, previously
Anna Cayne wasn’t my first girlfriend; I had dated Melissa Laughner in the spring of the same year. There was nothing wrong with Melissa Laughner. She was smart and nice and pretty, tall and thin, with straight brown hair. She wore glasses, sometimes, and she was quiet. Near the end of March her younger brother, Adam, had told Carl that she liked me, so I called her up one night and asked her if she wanted to go see a movie or something. She did. On the Friday of that week, her father drove us to Hilliker, where the nearest theater was, dropped us off, then picked us up when the movie was over. She said barely a word the whole time.
“I don’t think she likes me,” I told Carl on Monday.
“That’s not what her brother says.”
“Even after Friday?”
“He says she had a good time.”
“Maybe he’s just jerking me
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