“Let’s go get Keith.” When Cherry hears me say this, she drops her backpack on my floor and smiles. Her eyes are still wet, but her smile is so beautiful I cannot speak. My face feels hot. I bend down to tie my shoes, put on my jacket, and shove my wallet into my back pocket.
It is a good thing Cherry is with me because she is the one who has to figure out where the Everett Police Station is downtown. I do not know how to drive. I am impressed that Cherry can drive a stick shift. Yo shudders to a stop twice when she forgets to step on the clutch.
“It’s easy to get confused because there are three pedals down there, Cherry. You’re doing a good job.” It is important to tell people they are doing a good job.
She talks to me all the way to the station.
“I had just gotten off. I had early shift. I left right after you bought your sandwiches. My dad was already home from work. I didn’t expect him that early and I told him that if he touched me again I would call the police. For real this time. He thought I was kidding. He screamed at me and slapped me around so hard he gave me a bloody nose. I ran into the bedroom, grabbed the phone, and dialed nine-one-one. And then Keith just blew through our front door like the Hulk, fists flying! It was so awesome. He punched my dad in the face, threw him into the wall, and knocked him out. He was amazing.” Cherry sighs. “I was so bummed because I had already made my call. It was the first time I ever called the cops when he beat me. They took both Keith
and
my dad in.”
“I wish I had been there.” I missed everything. It would have been very exciting.
Cherry and I both like Hulk comics. We like Slurpees and Pay-Days too.
Officer Mallory recognizes Cherry and me, and takes us around personally while the other officers get Keith out of jail. He shows me how the fingerprint station works and I get black ink on my hands. He told me that they don’t usually take checks, but they know mine is good. That is so cool.
Keith is very glad to see us. He only has one tiny cut over his eye, a bump on his lip, and a bloody shirt.
“Hey thanks, Per.” Keith slaps me on the back. He says thank you ten more times. Cherry hugs Keith and says thank you about twenty times. I do not slap anybody on the back. I just pay Keith’s fine. Keith stuffs a bunch of papers in his pocket and we walk out to Yo. He slides into the driver’s seat and I squeeze next to Cherry by the passenger door. Nobody talks much on the way home. Cherry just sniffs every once in a while. She sounds like Gigi when she looks for food on the floor.
Gary is waiting for us in front of Holsted’s.
“What the hell is going on, Keith? I got a call from Ray Mallory! He said something about you being in a fight?”
“It’s taken care of. Don’t get your girdle in a knot.”
That is funny. Only girls wear girdles. Gary does not laugh and talks low to Keith, then drives away.
We stand in the parking lot looking at each other and then Keith tells us good night. He strolls to his boat patting his pockets. I can tell he is looking for his Camels. Cherry follows me upstairs to my front door. She keeps looking back at Keith as we climb the steps, but he does not turn around. She bites her lip while I unlock my door.
I give her a tour of my place.
“You can sleep in my bed and I can sleep on Gram’s couch. Here is my bathroom and a clean towel.” I have never had a guest before except Keith and I don’t tell him anything.
When I show her my TV, I can tell she is impressed.
“Oh, wow! That’s awesome!” And she runs her hand over the top just like I do when I can’t believe I finally have a TV.
I let Cherry take a shower first. She comes out with wet hair that snaps when she combs it. She wears pink sweatpants, a fleece shirt, and sits down on Gram’s sofa. I take my turn in the bathroom. When I come out in my pajamas and robe Cherry is standing at the window looking out. Keith is sitting in his cockpit smoking a cigarette.
Diamond Girl
is very still in the water. I can see her hull reflected in the smooth black surface like there are two boats. I am feeling strange as I stand next to Cherry. Kind of excited, nervous, bouncy. My hands are sweating. My privates are hard. I grab the blanket Gram made, wrap it around my middle, and lie down on the couch. I squeeze my eyelids shut tight. I do not know what else to do. Cherry walks into the bedroom.
As she passes me, she puts out her hand, pats my cheek, and says, “Night, Perry,” and “Thanks.” I hear the door shut and try to go to sleep. It takes me a long, long time. I can still feel her touch on my face. Noises echo through the wall and the clock in the kitchen is ticking.
Click. Click. Click
.
I must have gone to sleep because I had a dream-story about Cherry. She was crying and then laughing. I beat up her dad with one punch, but I did not go to jail. I was like the Hulk, only handsome and tall with yellow hair. In my dream-story, Cherry put one arm around my waist and touched my privates.
I do not remember anything that happened after that.
When I wake up, my pajama bottoms are wet, but I did not pee my pants.
Cherry is still asleep. My clothes from yesterday are still on my bathroom floor. I put them on because I do not want to go into the bedroom for my clean ones.
I put my nightclothes in the washer, then make oatmeal and do my words.
I really, really like Cherry.
38
So you have a roommate now.” That is what Gary says. Then he always asks, "How’s it working out?”
I say fine, but it is not just me, it is Keith. We both have a roommate. It is like we share Cherry. She spends a lot of time on
Diamond Girl.
Cherry and Keith talk and smoke in his cockpit. She tells me that since I do not smoke it’s not fair for them to puff away in my apartment, but I tell them I do not mind. It reminds me of Gram except their cigarettes are not menthol, and they smoke more than just two.
Keith and I eat good dinners now. Cherry cooks Hamburger Helper, chili, Chicken Tenders, and makes us both eat salads. We have good desserts too, like Ho Hos, Twinkies, and canned pudding. She cleans my bathroom and mops my floor. It is so cool. I do not have to do anything. She even washes all our clothes. On Wednesday mornings, I have to remember to put all my dirty ones in the laundry bag.
“I am not searching through every frigging room in the apartment to find your wash, Perry!” Even when Cherry is pissed, she is beautiful. Pissed is not a bad word because you can say
I have to take a piss
or
I am pissed off
, or
piss on it
to make someone go faster.
She folds my clothes and everything. I only have to set the table. Keith eats with us every night. I tell Cherry I can cook, but she says she has to earn her keep. She still works at Marina Handy Mart, but I do not let her pay rent.
She is a hard worker like me. Sometimes she answers my phone.
“Who’s Elaine?” she asks me.
“My cousin-brother David’s wife.”
“She left a message for you. Says she has papers for you to sign. What’s her problem? She called me a slut on the phone. She doesn’t even know me! I hung up on her. What a bitch!”
When Keith and Cherry are on
Diamond Girl,
I go into my bedroom. Cherry has her things neatly folded in my dresser. We share, but I only go into the bedroom to look at Gram and Gramp’s boxes. When I miss them, I can bring them back by looking at pictures and sorting through their things. I spread everything around.
It is almost dinnertime and I hear my front door open.
“Perry? Are you here?” It is Cherry’s voice. It always sounds like she is singing. I love her voice.
“You want roni-cheese for dinner? I bought hot dogs too! Keith and I went to the store,” she calls out.
I slide the box back against the wall just as she walks into the room. She smells like smoke. I like that because it reminds me of Gram. I do not have time to take my mess off the bed.
“Perry? What are all these?”
“Gram and Gramp’s stuff. It is mine now.”
“Cool,” she says. “You’re so lucky. I don’t have anything like this. I have nothing from my family.”
She sits on the edge of the bed and looks at my memory things. I get Gramp’s record player out and put on one of Gramp’s records.
“This one is Sousa. Army guys march to this,” I tell her.
We both kick our feet in time to the music.
“What’s this?” she asks, and unfolds a piece of paper. “It looks like a list.”
I take it from her hand. It has all the names of the people I am supposed to listen to: Gary, Officer Ray Mallory, firemen.
I read all the names.
I can do what they say, Gram said.
I have not looked at this list for a long time. I have not needed it. It is like I can decide who to listen to on my own now.
“Nothing. It is nothing,” I say.
I fold it back up and put it into Gram’s box.
39
My first Christmas after the lottery was cool-sad. Cool because Christmas is magic, but sad because Gram was not there to share it. Gram and I loved Christmas decorations.
“Hey, Cherry! Keith and I are going to drive around tonight and look at Christmas lights. You want to come?” I do not know why, but my armpits get all wet and my stomach is lumpy like when I eat too many nachos with cheese and peppers or whenever I visit Cherry at Marina Handy Mart. Her black eye is gone and she wears shiny blue glitter on her eyelashes.
“Sure. Yeah. That sounds fun.” She looks like she means it. Cherry always looks like she means what she says. That is why I like her. I want to yell yippee and bounce. I wait until I get back to Holsted ’s to do this.
I tell Keith that Cherry will come, and Manny laughs at me behind the cash register. His hair is so black and thick he looks like a leopard except he does not have spots, paws, or sharp teeth. He is skinny and smells like garlic today.
“Perry’s got a girlfriend. Perry’s got a girlfriend.” Manny sings this real low, so Keith cannot hear.
I tell him to stop. I am embarrassed and I feel my face get hot. Manny is concentrating so hard on teasing me that he does not hear Keith walk up behind him.
“Shut the fuck up, ya little twerp!” Keith always knows the right things to say. He adds, “Merry Christmas, jackass!” and hands him an envelope with one of the bonus checks I helped Gary write.
It made me very happy to give everybody Christmas bonuses. Manny smirks and laughs as he opens his Christmas card from Holsted ’s. His mouth drops open when he sees the amount of the check inside. He whistles and sings the rest of the day and pats me on the back.
“No hard feelings, Per? No hard feelings? You have yourself a heck of a Christmas, okay?” He does not tease me anymore about a girlfriend.
Christmas is a time for giving things.
The first present I can remember getting was army guys. They were in my stocking. Gram yelled when they got stuck in the vacuum. They were very good soldiers and could sneak everywhere. Keith and I found one inside the heat register when I moved out of our house. That little guy had to be hiding there for years. I was impressed.
Another present I remember was Etch A Sketch. That was the first hard present I got. I would be working on a picture and forget and put it upside down and it would go away. I would cry.
“Quit your bellyaching, Perry!” Gram would always say quit my bellyaching and tell me to try again. Gram said that to me each time I told her I didn’t think I could do something.
“Try again, Perry,” she said. “Try again! And then keep on trying!”
We would do Christmas stuff the whole month of December. We would write down people’s names on a list and decide what to get them. Gram liked lists. I do too. Everything we needed for presents was at Kmart or the Army-Navy store. Keith and I would go back later without her and buy the one thing she especially wanted that year. Three years ago, we got her an electric footbath soaker and two years ago, we got her a back massager that fit on the sofa. Last year it was a giant can of popcorn.
“If a body had that they wouldn’t need to make popcorn for a year!”
Gram appreciated anything that saved time.
At Army-Navy, there was always a ton of good stuff.
“Hey how about these?” I found canteens. They were dark green and had US ARMY in black letters on the side. They were totally cool.
We got them for John, David, and Louise. Even though we did not see them very often, we still bought them Christmas presents. They were always too busy to buy us any. That’s okay.
Gram would do her witch laugh when we found something really good, and we would buy it for everyone on our list. It saved time. Five years ago it was extra cold and snowed a lot, so we bought everybody long underwear. Keith really liked his and still wears the tops, even though they are stretched, stained, and have lots of holes from cigarette burns. Gram and I had a lot of fun shopping. My eyes get wet when I remember that Gram will not be here this Christmas.
We put more oil in Yo, because he leaks, and drive all the way to Seattle. Pretend snow fluffs down and it is perfect. Gram called snow that didn’t stick
pretend snow
.
“All of the advantages of snow, but none of the problems,” Gram said. “No getting stuck in the road, no slipping, no messing up bus schedules. Pretend snow is a damn sight better than real snow and it still makes it feel like Christmas.”
Cherry squishes me next to the door, which makes me hot, cold, and bouncy. She sits in the middle. Cherry does not seem to bother Keith like I do when I bounce or talk too much or sit too close. He puts an arm around her and takes it off only when he has to shift gears.
“Hey, look! Snow!” Cherry points at the windshield. Only the driver’s side wiper clears the snow, the other wiper just shudders. There is always something on Yo that decides not to work. Keith looks unhappy and pushes his lower lip out while he squeezes the wheel.