he merely wants a photograph of my grandmother. He probably has a wonderful family, people who are never further away from him than a phone call or a letter or a boat ride. I kick rocks all the way home and my fists are curled in my jacket pocket in muffled, stifled anger. Israel is silent but there is no familiar sense of comfortable camaraderie in our silence tonight.
********************
I wake the next afternoon to the smell of strong tea and bread. Amelia and Will are at it again, arguing in the living room. I can hear their tone of voice, if not their words, although I can guess at the conversation since it rarely differs. I can also hear the sound of the television with the ever running game shows. It sounds like Family Feud. Matthias and Harry are huge game show fanatics. They were so excited to be back in an era with television, they almost wept with joy.
I stumble out in my favorite old shirt, a soft gray one with faded pictures of horses, and a pair of plaid pajama pants. I have changed from the white, old fashioned nightgown I wear every night. The risks of waking in an unknown era are vast enough without calling attention to myself by an odd set of clothes. The nightgown, while a little eccentric in this day and age for a young woman, is the best I can do. I yawn and give Harry his customary high five as I walk by the couch. He loves this century. He loves smacking people’s hands instead of shaking them.
“Sonnet,” Amelia – Meli for short - calls out as I reach the kitchen and open the refrigerator. “Sonnet, tell this bum we need to go out! We need to go out, Will.” She turns her attention to her husband and props her cute, heart shaped face on her hands. She stares pointedly at him.
Will is short and small and wears glasses. He reads a book and sips orange juice and doesn’t pay her the slightest attention. Will and Meli have been married for several years and they haven’t agreed on anything since. Meli frets and mopes and stomps around the house when she isn’t working as a nanny, and Will indulgently pats her head occasionally, but mostly ignores her. Their devotion to each other and to their respective pursuit’s border somewhere between ridiculous and inspirational. Last week their daily arguments were focused about whether or not to have children. Now it seems Meli just wants a date night.
“Mm hm, you should take her out.” I agree while I put bread in the toaster. “Where’s Prue? Did she and Dad leave already?” I peer at the clock. It’s nearly 10:30.
“They were doing corned beef and cabbage today so they had to leave a little earlier than normal,” Will replied.
“That’s going to stink in this humidity,” Meli wrinkles her nose. “They should stick to the Cajun stuff, it sells better. Are you going down there, Sonnet? Please change your clothes, honey.”
I butter my toast and glance down at my shirt. “What’s wrong with it? You don’t like horses?”
“At least put on jeans. Come on, Sonnet! You could be so pretty if you’d put in a little effort, you know. Comb your hair, put on some make up. Let me take you shopping. Don’t you think I should take Sonnet shopping, Will?”
“I like Sonnet the way she is.”
Point one for Will. “I promise to comb my hair,” I say as I leave the kitchen.
“And put on jeans! And some lip gloss!” she hollers after me.
“No lip gloss,” Matthias says disapprovingly as I pass the couch, “That stuff is not for nice girls. Only street girls wear color on their faces.” Matthias doesn’t get out much.
I do comb my hair and change my pajama pants for jeans, although I doubt either one improves my outfit much. It looks sunny and hot outside today and so I grab my favorite hat as well, a cap with the Budweiser logo on it. I’ve never actually had a Budweiser but they make excellent caps.
It is unseasonably hot once I step outside our little house. The heat hits me in the face like hot steam from one of Prue’s soups. It makes the peeling paint more obvious; the whole house seems dried out and shriveled in size. The wooden planks of the porch are warped and our mailbox leans to one side. I flick a bug off my favorite spot to