I want to share an excerpt from my novel, 'American boys'. This is the novel which I am working on about the plight of a single mother raising boys into manhood in difficult times.
dedicated to my sons Theodore
and David
Chapter 1
Lizzy stared out the kitchen window of her rented, old, Vermont farm house, on a warm day in mid June. Wild flowers were beginning to bloom, lavender and yellow, against the distant trees, foothills, and one neighbor's house. She could even see some cows grazing in the distance, and the silo of the neighboring farm, as well as a few horses, even farther. It was so beautiful, she thought, that she felt she wanted to live here forever, that is if the owner would keep letting her have a break on the rent, for keeping it up so well. Her friend Charlie, actually came to mow the lawn for her, since Daniel had poor eyesight, and she did not like him to run the ride on, although she often did it herself, like everything else, she often resented, but the boys were pretty good about washing dishes, and taking out trash, among other chores.
She thought about Daniel leaving tomorrow, for Upstate New York, to work on a film project, with his friend, Dana, a girl with dyed black hair, black painted fingernails, stud bracelets, black, baggy clothing, and a pale face, yet nonetheless, something angelic in her gray colored eyes.
He was supposed to do the music part of it. Dana had supposedly, written a screen play, but Lizzy could not help but feel skeptical. She wondered how Dana could possibly have those kind of connections, not to mention the money, which Daniel surely did not have.
She poured a cup of coffee, and just then she saw Daniel and Rusty, their black labrador retriever, playing in the yard. Daniel was throwing an old tennis ball, while Rusty persistently fetched. Lizzy smiled, knowing Rusty could go on, seeming forever, this way, until he would finally tire of the game, and would come inside to drink some water.
Adrien,
Daniel's best friend walked in, "hi Lizzy. I came to say goodbye".
"Are you deploying soon to Iraq?", she asked him, not surprised at all, to see him, because he came over often, and often took Daniel out with him, when he left.
"Yeah, but not for another week."
Daniel came in the back door, Rusty following. "Hey, what's up Man?", Daniel greeted Adrien. "I hear you are deploying."
"In about a week," Adrien nodded seriously.
"Wow," responded Daniel. "Come on, let's go up to my room. Can you stay a bit, or do you have to - ?"
"No, sure. I can stay a little while, but Mom and Dad want us to go out to dinner tonight, in Burlington, kind of a seeing off dinner. Suzanne and Christen are coming as well. I'd invite you too, Danny, but you know - "
"Oh no, Man, I totally understand. They want you to themselves right now. I get it. Come on up, so we can hang for a little bit. We need to catch up, before you deploy. Seems we haven't had a chance to hang in a while now. I'm going to New York State with Dana tomorrow, and...," he trailed on, as they disappeared upstairs, to Daniel's room, until Lizzy could only hear a distant muffle of their young, manly voices, drifting away. 'Drifting away,' she thought, feeling melancholy about so many things now, she could not even count. She thought it best not to even think about it all, at least not for now.
Lizzy stared out the window, thinking about Adrien's soon to be deployment, with a concerned look on her soft face.
Nicolas came down to pour his cereal. "Mom I am so relieved that school is out. I just don't know what to do when Daniel is gone."
"I know. I feel the same. Maybe we'll go on a road trip or something fun." She started to break eggs into a bowl, thinking about the fact that the truck needed fixing and they were so broke. Then the thought of getting Charlie back, crossed her mind, but she canceled the thought, continuing with the egg batter.
It was not that she did not like Charlie, not that she did not find him very attractive, because she did. There was just something amiss in the relationship, and she just felt like she could never fully commit to him, even though neither of them were seeing anyone else. She had been off and on with him for years, but he definitely liked her just a bit more than she liked him, and she supposed it was sometimes to her advantage, because he was her best friend, and she could rely on him. She just did not feel he was the 'one.' Oh, what was the 'one,' anyhow? She thought too much, she always did, it seemed, even though there was so much work.
"I have two houses to clean today, Nick," she announced, pouring the egg batter into hot melted butter, on a frying pan. "So, you can hang out with Daniel all day, alright?"
"Yeah, okay, but when do I get my XBOX game, World Warrior, Mom?," he reminded her.
"As soon as we can afford it. We can rent it when we go to town for your doctor appointment. You will have to wait for me to buy it, because money is really tight right now. Get a reality check, Nick."
"Okay, Mom," he sighed, as he ate his cereal, Rusty watching him the entire time, salivating from one side of his mouth.
No comments:
Post a Comment