There was a stack of old Hunter’s Digest in a bin. It was new reading material to me, and like Dan, I thought I’d grab one and indulge. In my reach, my head cocked when I heard Simon squeal happily. I was shocked when I saw what caused his joy.
“Simon,” I scolded.
Simon laughed and did a little jump of excitement. “Molly wants some more.”
“No, Simon.” I walked over to Molly who was positioned on the small sofa. “She doesn’t.” I reached into her wide-open mouth and pulled out the dehydrated cranberry Simon had tossed in there. “If you don’t want them, Simon, put them back.”
“Molly wants to eat them.” Simon giggled.
“No.” I corrected. “Molly eats air.”
Rod chuckled as he eavesdropped. “Amongst other things.”
I gasped.
Simon laughed again as if he totally understood what Rod was implying. He slapped his little knee. “Rod’s funny. Rod’s funny.”
“Oh, yeah, he’s a card.” I shook my head.
“Jo. They won’t go to waste,” Rod said. “Someone will eat them. The boy is only restless. He wants to play.”
“Oh!” Simon called out and clapped his hands. “Outside. Can I go outside now, Aunt Jo?”
“No, Simon.” I crouched down to be at his level. “We have to wait, Sweetie.” My voice was soothing and even-toned as if I told a happy story. “Big Bad Burke wants to go with us with his big bad gun to make sure no big bad men…”
“Holy, Jesus, Jo.” Rod interrupted me. “Just tell the boy you have to wait until Burke gets up.”
Just then Davy came into the room. “Burke’s awake. He said to get Simon ready.” Davy extended his hand to Simon. “Come on, buddy, let’s go get you dressed to play. Matty, you want to come too?”
“No.” Matty replied, “I want to keep my hair.”
Davy shrugged. “Suit yourself, let’s go, Simon.”
Simon happily went with Davy. I glanced down to Matty on the floor. “I’m glad you’re staying inside,” I told her.
Rod looked up from his work. “Jo, you’re making your daughter neurotic enough. Maybe you should encourage her to go out. Ten minutes outside is not gonna hurt her.”
Before I could even respond, Matty did. “I want to draw.” She spoke as her hand moved about. “I’m making a new Dan picture.”
With a questioning, ‘hmm’, Rod lifted up and extended his body to peer at what Matty created. “Very good. I see you’ve given him horns.”
The ‘slam’ of Dan’s hand on the table startled us. “Why does she depict me like that?”
Rod shrugged. “She psychic. She sees through you.”
Had Burke not walked in the room ordering out, ‘No bitch fights’, I’m sure some little spat between Rod and Dan would have ensued. He looked at none of us, and moved straight to the kitchenette area.
“I made you coffee, Burke,” I said. “There’s a good half a cup.”
“Thanks.” Burke lifted the tin pot.
“Burke?” Innocently, I crept his way.
“Jo.” He poured his coffee. “Simon will be fine.”
I grumbled. “I hate when you know what I’m gonna say.”
“Don’t be so predictable.”
“But, Craig says even though the rads are lower, it might be best if we wait until it rains.”
Burke finally turned around. “We’re taking precautions. Besides, we don’t know when it’s gonna rain.”
“Rod says soon.” I nodded.
Burke paused before taking a drink. His lips hovered over the rim of the cup, and his dark eyes looked at me as if I were being ridiculous. “And how does Rod know?”
“He has magic sinuses,” I replied.
Burke coughed out a laugh.
Rod seemed offended by Burke’s reaction. “I do,” Rod said. “I put my thumb and forefinger on my cheek bones and press. If I get a tickle in my throat… rain.”
Chuckling, Burke shook his head.
“You’ll see, big guy.” Rod pointed his pen at Burke. “Rain.”
“We should make Simon wait,” I said. “I believe Rod.”
“You would.” Burke walked by me. “Simon goes out.”
“But…”
Spinning to me, Burke put his hand over my mouth. “Out. I’m taking precautions.” Nodding once, Burke turned and walked out. “Davy!” he blasted in his exit. “Is Simon ready? I want to inspect him.”
“Inspect?” I asked, and then curiously looked to Rod or Dan for answers. “What’s he doing to Simon?”
It satisfied me and was no less than hysterical. I went outside with Davy and Simon. Burke was giving them a half an hour. Exposure would be minimal. Of course, I couldn’t figure out how Simon would get any exposure at all. Precautions? Burke had that covered… literally. Simon was a big blue bundle. He wore Davy’s old snowsuit. The ski goggles that covered his eyes helped to hold the white cloth securely over Simon’s nose and mouth. With the mittens and boots, Simon looked more like he was ready to build a snowman rather than play catch. It was visually evident that Simon could barely move his arms let alone run. But Simon didn’t mind, he darted about the yard as best as he could. Davy had his hands full continuously chasing Simon from the sporadic pockets of thick ash in the yard. Ash that Simon believed was some kind of new snow.
Burke was bored and restless, that was obvious. He paced a lot during his ‘watch guard’ duty, while making far too many comments regarding Nicky’s state of mind.
Granted, Burke’s concerns were validated, but his stock remark of ‘Oh, she’s fuckin’ gone’, was a bit crude.
Nicky bothered no one. Craig tried to get her to go indoors several times. She refused, saying she still hadn’t finished her gardening. I once had a flowerbed in front of my home. It wasn’t much, and it paled in comparison to Mrs. Yu’s garden. I really never tended to it, to me, what grew—grew. Taking it upon herself, Nicky cleared away the debris and ash that collected on my flowerbed.
Burked paced, stopped, looked at Nicky then to me. “Oh, she’s…”
“Don’t say it.” I warned. “Sit.”
“I don’t want to sit.”
“Well, then move, I can’t see around you to watch Simon.”
“I’ll sit.” Burke plopped down on the porch step next to me.
“Swell.” I mumbled.
Brightly, Nicky called out, “Look, Jo. Look how pretty this is. Everyone will be envious.”
Burke whistled. “Oh, she’s…”
“Don’t.” I held up my hand.
“Jo?” Nicky sung my name. “I found mint leaves. Should I collect them for rations?”
Burke tried again. “Jo, she’s…”
“Burke. Stop.” I instructed.
“Jo, I can’t help it,” he defended. “She’s over there in some sort of fucked up apocalyptic Donna Reed mode. And she’s humming country tunes.”
A shadow cast over us. I looked up to see Craig.
“I didn’t even know she liked country.” Craig said. “Go figure. You learn something new everyday.” He shrugged and walked away.
“Oh, my God.” Burke groaned out, “he’s fuckin’ gone too.”
My hand slapped hard to my leg in my frustration. “Will you just stop? You’re looking at this all wrong.”
“I’m looking at it wrong? How else am I supposed to look at it?”
“Like…” My eyes strayed, I pretended to watch Simon when really, I was searching for words. “Like…” I snapped my finger. “They really aren’t acting ‘fucked up’, they’re….” I fluttered my lips. “Acting normal in a fucked up situation. There.”
I waited. Surely Burke would retort with some sarcastic, obscenity-laced comment. He didn’t. Surprising me, he just bobbed his head with an agreeable look. Then a strange moment erupted between us; we started to chuckle.
“That was funny,” Burke said.
As I opened my mouth to agree, my chuckle evolved into laughter when I noticed Simon. He was stuck. Without getting hurt, Simon had somehow fallen. And like a cockroach on its back, he struggled diligently to get up. The blue bundled boy rolled slightly side-to-side, reaching for Davy who was in hysterics.