Chapter 9
BENJAMIN PULLED the car to a stop in front of Frank’s house. Neither man said anything as Frank sat motionless with his hand on the door handle. Benjamin noted that Frank was sitting there staring at the house with a look of desperation on his face as if he were praying that when he went inside Julia would be waiting.
“Come on, Benjamin finally ventured. I’ll walk you in.”
Frank felt like a little kid with his big brother walking him home past the neighborhood badasses.
The two of them walked slowly up the driveway with Benjamin’s hand on Frank’s back. When they reached the front door, Benjamin ordered Frank to hand him the keys.
Benjamin, the oldest of the three boys, had naturally taken the lead. He was the one who woke them up in the mornings, fixed their breakfast, and got them out for school each day. Their parents, who had to take public transportation to areas of the city where they hired Negros, were up and well on their way long before it was time for their children to get ready for school.
Benjamin opened the door and stepped back as the damp musty smell of the house assaulted his nostrils.
“What the hell, man. It smells like you got a dead body in there.”
Benjamin saw the look of horror and sadness that crossed Frank’s face.
“Sorry, Frank you know I didn’t mean anything by that. But when was the last time you had somebody in here to clean?”
“I don’t remember.”
“Fuck man. No wonder you didn’t want to come home,” yelled Benjamin over his shoulder as he followed the rancid smell into the kitchen where white boxes of molded Chinese food sat on counters cluttered with mail and dirty dishes. Uneaten casseroles from sympatric neighbors sat neglected atop the stove.
“Awh, Frank! Why didn’t you say something? Sara would have been happy to come over and clean this mess up. You know that.”
“Come on man, he said grabbing his brother around the shoulders, why don’t you go get a shower and I’ll clean up some of this shit before I leave.”
Frank as in times past, obeyed his brother and in a zombie like state walked slowly back through the living room, that was covered in a layer of dust, and down the hall that led to the bedroom that he’d shared with Julia.
It was a large room with watery blue walls, the usual bedroom furniture in the traditional style, accented with beige and blue bedding, and there was not a flower strewn print in sight. Julia respected him like that.
He sat down on the bed, took off his shoes, and loosened his tie pulling it off, through the collar of his shirt. He took a deep breath in and it struck him all at once. In here, there was no scent of rotting food. No sneeze inducing dust. No, the room smelled of Julia. It smelled of fresh cut flowers, lemon, and vanilla. He all but stopped breathing. Clutching his hands to his chest he fell off the bed with a great thud.
Benjamin was in the kitchen tossing moldy runny food into a garbage bag when he heard great sobbing wails coming from Frank and Julia’s bedroom.
“Frank! What’s wrong,” he asked as he struggled to pick his brother up.
“I can’t be in here, Bennie. I can’t. It hurts too much. Everywhere I look, I see her. Her perfume is all over this room. I can’t breathe. I can’t do it. God damn it Bennie, I miss her so much I can’t think. I feel so lost without her.
“Come on. Let’s get you up. You can spend the night with me and Sara. We got a spare room that’s just going to waste. And tomorrow, after you’ve had some sleep, we’ll decide what to do with this place.”
The End of Part One.
By
Eliza D. Ankum
Author of
Flight 404
Ruby Sanders
Jared Anderson
OneThreeThirteen – Master Of The Day Of Judgment
Dancing With The Fat Woman
https://24thehuntforrednovember.wordpress.com
Thou Shalt Eat Dust 