| Stealin'
Sunshine |
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by M.L. Edwards |
|
This story first appeared in Juked Magazine. |
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Miss Nora is stealin’ sunshine
again.
Big white marshmallow clouds push up into the all-blue
sky over our heads and the sun goes behind one of the marshmallow clouds,
so I look at Miss Nora Makes Cold Weather and Miss Nora Makes Cold Weather
pops and snaps a long, thin green bean in three real quick pieces, drops
them in the big beat-up tin tub sittin’ on the porch between us,
looks at me, then smiles and winks.
“It’s too hot,” Miss Nora says,
so I tell her, “It’s supposed to be hot because it’s
almost summertime and if it wasn’t hot when it was almost summertime
then it wouldn’t almost be summertime.” Miss Nora just says,
“It’s a sin to be this hot this early in the morning. It’s
not even eight-thirty yet.” I don’t say nothin’ for
a long while and neither does Miss Nora but I don’t like when it’s
quiet for a long time, so I ask her, “Where do you put the sunshine
when you steal it?”
Miss Nora don’t answer me right away which is
okay with me because I just sit there in that old wooden stool on the
porch and try to figure it out on my own before she tells me, but I can’t
because Miss Nora is real sneaky with the sunshine. Miss Nora looks up
at the sky and more puffy clouds push up over our heads and the blue-blue
sky is not really all that blue anymore. Miss Nora pops and snaps a green
bean into four quick pieces this time and still don’t say nothin’.
My babysitter, the Scissors Lady, flew with me from
Chicago to Montana and Miss Nora’s house three days ago because
Mama didn’t want me to fly by myself. I’m glad the Scissors
Lady flew with me and stayed at Miss Nora’s house ‘til yesterday
because I was scared to fly all by myself. The Scissors Lady wasn’t
scared to fly but she wasn’t happy about it either. The people at
the airport wouldn’t let her take her scissors on the plane so she
could cut her dress patterns while we flew because of 9/11. They told
the Scissors Lady her scissors would be waitin’ for her at O’Hare
when she got back from Montana. The Scissors Lady just rolled her eyes
at the airport people when she put her scissors in that little basket
and mumbled somethin’ about it almost being prom season and all
the prom dresses she was gon’ have to make in the next two weeks.
I ask Miss Nora, “Are you gon’ steal sunshine
all day?” and Miss Nora says, “Don’t stop snapping those
green beans little boy. I want to have them in the crock pot soon so I
can start glazing my ham.” So I start poppin’ and snappin’
green beans again but I’m not so good as Miss Nora is at poppin’
and snappin’ green beans and I can’t pop and snap them as
fast as she can, but Miss Nora told me yesterday I’ll be poppin’
and snappin’ green beans even better than she can by the end of
the summer.
Miss Nora looks up at the sky again and the clouds
start movin’ away from us because a little breeze starts blowin’.
“No, I won’t steal sunshine all day,” Miss Nora says,
answering my question. “Just a li’l bit this morning. I’ll
be cooking all day today and that stove will make my kitchen hot and unbearable,
so I figure at least my morning should be cool.”
“I like cool mornings too,” I say, “because I can sleep
better when it’s nice and cool, and you don’t have to keep
Dani’s secret about her bein’ a lesbian because I already
know she’s a lesbian.”
Miss Nora only pops and snaps a green bean in half
this time, throws one piece to her dog Brutus sleeping under a tree and
drops the other piece in the tin tub. Brutus just lifts his head and sniffs
at the green bean, then closes his eyes and goes back to sleep. Yesterday
Miss Nora made a special dinner for the Scissors Lady because it was her
last night visitin’ Montana and the Big Sky country out here, but
today Miss Nora is making a special dinner because I’m her special
little grandbaby boy sent out to Montana to stay with her for a little
while until Mama can figure out why Dani is a lesbian.
“Who told you your sister is a lesbian?”
Miss Nora asks, and I say, “Nobody. One day I saw her and Momoko
kissin’ in her room. They thought I was still outside playing.”
Miss Nora says, “Girls kiss each other all the time. Just because
a girl kisses another girl doesn’t mean she’s a lesbian.”
So I say, “Dani and Momoko were kissin’ and stuff like how
boys and girls are supposed to kiss and stuff.” Miss Nora asks,
“And stuff?” and I nod my head and repeat, “And stuff.”
Mama don’t think I know what a lesbian is but
I do because at my new school in Hyde Park there’s a girl in my
class named Clarisse who has two moms and I even seen her moms pick her
up from school once. But I knew what a lesbian was at my old school, too.
Jamie told me what a lesbian is after I asked him why he called that girl
we didn’t like named Shantay a lesbo. I don’t know how Jamie
found out what a lesbian is. Probably from his older brother.
I ask Miss Nora, “Is Mama is mad at Dani for
bein’ a lesbian?” and Miss Nora answers, “That’s
what your mama is trying to decide. She needs some time alone with Danialyn
to determine if Danialyn is going about finding out who she is and where
she belongs in this world and on this earth the wrong way.” So I
ask, “If Daddy was alive would he be mad at Dani for bein’
a lesbian?” and Miss Nora answers in a quiet voice, “I raised
your daddy better than that. If your Daddy was alive he wouldn’t
be mad at Danialyn for being a lesbian because Danialyn would not be a
lesbian.”
So I think real hard about what Miss Nora means by
that, and I think so hard I look up at the sky. It’s turnin’
mostly blue again because Miss Nora let the sky have a little bit of sun
back. I think for a long time but I can’t figure out what Miss Nora
means, just like I can’t figure out where she puts the sunshine
when she steals it. I don’t ask Miss Nora what she means, though,
because I don’t want her to think I’m too young to be told
important stuff. So I don’t say nothin’ at all and go back
to poppin’ and snappin’ green beans some more because Miss
Nora got to glaze her ham.
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