by bigcat » Fri Feb 19, 2016 6:06 pm
Jodie Smalls glances at her Apple Watch while she washes her hands at the sink. 10:30 at last--time for Skylar to go to sleep so Mom can unwind in the bath. She turns on the bathtub faucet, tests the temp, then pads across the hall and looks past her son’s half-open door. The room is dark except for a faint glow emanating from the bed. She taps lightly on the open door.
Skylar pops out from underneath the covers, holding a flashlight. He squints.
“Mom, can I ask you something?” He's not a kid prone to preamble.
“Mmmm…sure, Sky. But then, bedtime.”
“Mom, uh, people at school are saying things about our family, not nice things." He looks guiltily at her face and pauses. "But actually like not nice things....”
“Oh honey, I know how kids can be. But you know your dad and I both love you very much...”
“No, it's not about Dad. Uh, not about my dad, about another, uh, other ones...”
Jodie’s nostrils flare slightly and she looks straight at Skylar. “Look, everything’s fine, honey. Everything will be okay. You're okay."
She walks over and ruffles his hair. "You okay?”
Skylar nods mutely and dives back under his covers.
“Goodnight, Sky.” Jodie shuts his door with a click, sweeps into the bathroom, and locks the door behind her.
Steam's rising from the tub tap, wafting up to mist the dozens of terraria that dangle from gold hooks in the white stucco ceiling. One hangs off-kilter--Greg used to knock his head against it when he shaved.
In the mirror, we see Jodie's reflection reach into the bottom bathroom drawer, grab a jumbo box of Q-Tips, and root around before pulling out a professionally rolled joint in its plastic case, a cactus-shaped zippo, and a purple bullet vibrator.
The heat from the bathwater starts clouding the mirror from the bottom up, until we can only discern the tilted terrarium in the top corner. The sound of flowing water stops, replaced with a mechanical buzz. The last reflected terrarium fogs over.