Ed

Years ago I had a boyfriend named Ed. I'd seen this guy at a bar and asked one of his buddies, “Who's that?” “Oh. That's Ed. Great guy.” And clearly the guys loved him. They were always sayin’ “What an ED!”, ya know? It was how they praised each other. “You are such an ED!” they’d say, or “That was a real ED!” So anyway we started going out and I'm thinking WOW! This guy is pretty cool. So then comes November and one day he says “Let’s go for a walk”. So he takes me to this piece of land a few miles out of town that one of his friends owns and he’s got on this leather vest that’s mahogany brown with pockets. That was the thing about it. The pockets, ya know? One shallow one on each side near the bottom and two breast pockets. And BONE buttons. Ya see what I mean? And I’m thinking, WOW! What an ED! So we get out of the car and he pulls a rifle out of the trunk and throws it over his shoulder and we head into the woods and he starts telling me about the different trees and where the porcupines live and the habits of the deer. He shows me their tracks. And I’m thinking, I’m dating a real ED! He knows all this cool nature stuff. And even though we’ve only been dating for a couple of months, I start playin’ with the idea of what it would be like to a hunter’s wife. So about an hour later we’re walkin’ in these two ruts of an overgrown dirt road and up to our left is a flat topped hill, sort of an acropolis. It’s got this nice thick stand of pine trees and a big grassy spot that opens toward us. We can see up to the clearing and there’s these 5 jr high school kids. One girl and 4 boys and I’m thinkin’ whoa, ’cause she’s lying on the ground and one boy is pumping away between her legs and one boy is kneeling on the ground beside her getting a close view and another boy is kissing her mouth and the 4th boy is standing up watching each of them. And it’s all coming into my head real slow and I’m going, Whoa. But not Ed. He says “Let's scare ’em”. Now, my lips are stuck ’cause my brain is stuck and before I know it Ed takes his rifle and fires one shot into the air and yells out in his big low voice, “Hey, what’s going on there?” Well I gotta tell ya it takes those 5 kids 5 seconds to be up and running into the pine trees, and Ed is doubled over laughing and I’m thinking whoa. Wait. And while my eyes are still glued on the empty space, the girl walks out. Her back is noble. Her steps are cautious. Her eyes are straight ahead. Ed’s lookin’ now too. She stops and scoops up her underpants with one hand and bolts back into the spaces between the trees. Ed starts laughing harder. Man. Next thing, I see them all running down another dirt road on the other side of the hill. I look at Ed. His face is blotchy red and he’s wipin’ the tears from his eyes with his big finger tips. He’s been laughing so hard his vest is hanging off one shoulder. So I stand there for a minute watching him. And then I think, ya know, he should’ve been named Dick.

Glass

Sharp and shards. Shapeless when scattered on the floor after the mother hears the father talk too long about her faults. The scratching along the floor as she sweeps the pieces up with the broom from the closet. There is one long piece. A long triangle that she holds up to the window and looks through watching her husband now outside, moving the stove wood into stacks. A thousand raindrops race each other down. The wood shines wet. She takes the shard and runs the tip of it across the top of the wooden kitchen table where the remains of breakfast sit cold and congealed. The glass leaves a deep scratch. A long curve that follows the grain of the wood. She touches the wound with the tips of her fingers and feels small splinters here and there along the trail the glass has left. She looks at the scar on the table and the scar on the back of her hand. The healed over veins greyish white against her olive skin. She runs the tip of one finger up one long edge of the glass to its tip and then gently imbeds the point into her finger until a drop of blood forms. She wonders at its ability to hang onto her skin even as the weight of the drop would seem enough to pull away and land on the table leaving a stain.