Page 58 of Score
Glass shatters, the sound piercing my cocoon of fluff and cotton.
“Motherfucker!” Mama screams, her voice loud and shrill. “That was Granny’s china.”
“Fuck Granny.” Daddy’s harsh words are followed by the sound of more glass shattering.
“I’m calling Roz. You’re paranoid and you drunk, and I ain’t taking it tonight.”
“You ain’t calling nobody. Gimme that phone.”
Tonight’s a bad one. Maybe the worst they ever had. If I had a cell phone, I’d call Aunt Roz myself, but Mama says I’m still too young. There’s an awful sound, like something ripping from the wall, and then a faintding.
“Son of a bitch!” Mama screams. “Now who gon’ pay for a new phone? You feel big and bad? Ripping my phone out the wall?”
“You weren’t calling Roz,” Daddy says, his words strung tight and high. “You been callinghimon that phone. And on this one, too.”
Another crash and thump.
Cautiously, I poke my head out from under the pillow and stare at my closed door. Worry and nosiness compel me to fling back the comforter, swing my feet over the side of the bed, and slide out. Barefoot, I tiptoe to my bedroom door and crack it open to step into the narrow hallway. It’s illuminated only by the spill of light from the living room. Inch by inch, I sneak up the hall. The smell of the vanilla candles Mama lights every night when she gets home from work grows stronger the closer I get. Sliding along the wall like I’ve seen cops do in movies, I slink toward my parents and glance around the corner.
Even though we’ve been through dinner, homework, and bath time, Mama hasn’t changed from the slacks and button-down shirt she wore to her job at a small clothing store in town. The heart-shaped pendant theygave her as employee of the month is still pinned to her chest. My parents stand close enough to kiss, but they spit and snap at each other, practically nose to nose.
“You buying me a new cell,” Mama screeches, pointing to the floor where her flip phone lies crushed and scattered into pieces. “Worked all day and gotta come home to this shit.”
“Worked all day.” Daddy pitches his voice higher in an imitation of hers, clutching the phone he ripped from the wall in one hand. “This ’bout me not working, ain’t it?”
“You stay outta that bottle, maybe you could keep a job.”
“I know what you get up to there,” he snarls, shaking the phone in the air for emphasis. “Giving it to anybody who wants it.”
“Boy, I ain’t giving nothing to nobody, and I for damn sure ain’t giving it to you acting like this.”
“You s’posed to be the one. You promised it’d be me and you, and then you…” Daddy’s words trail away into a pool of sudden tears. “You go and step out on me.”
“Will,” Mama says, her voice going a little soft, melting the way it does right before she forgives him. “Itisyou and me. Why you think I’m still here? But… something ain’t right. You need to talk to somebody, see somebody. I can’t keep doing this.”
“See somebody?” Daddy stiffens, scoffs, sniffs. “What I’m gon’ see somebody about?”
No answer, but the silence seems tobethe answer; some conversation they’ve had before that plays back in the quiet hush of the room. Maybe one of those exchanges they have right in front of me at the table sometimes only with their eyes.
“What I’m gonna see somebody about?” Daddy demands again.
“You know, Will,” Mama says, tears trickling down her cheeks. “You know something ain’t right and—”
“I told you I’m fine!”
Daddy paces back and forth, hands gripping his head and tugging at his hair, long and rough because he hasn’t brushed it and he needs it cut.
“Shut up!” he screams, but he’s not looking at Mama. His eyes dart wildly around the room.
“Who you talking to, Will?” Mama asks, concern and caution on her face.
“It’s in the walls.” Daddy stops pacing and stands perfectly still, as if whatever is bothering him will leave him alone if he just doesn’t draw its notice.
“I don’t hear nothing in the walls,” Mama says, shaking her head. “And this is why I say you need to see somebody, baby. If you just—”
“There’s nothing wrong with me, Bernadette. I told you I’m fine. You trying todistractme from what you did by accusing me of shit you know I didn’t do. And don’t mention no doctors, no medicine. I know you trying to trick me.I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know. I know.”
He knocks a fist against his temple with every word.
