The Color of the Sky, Part Three

A day late, but here's the next part of my short story...

Enjoy!

CSM

*****

The loft was my hiding place when I wanted time alone.  I have a couple of books and some movie magazines stashed up there.  Nothing dirty unless you think Nancy Drew or Tom Swift is dirty.

I was studying a sepia-toned photo in Modern Screen Magazine of Johnny Weissmuller in a bathing suit then one in his Tarzan loin cloth.  I fantasized about what was under that cloth.  As I sat there, I got 'excited' and felt my trousers getting tight.

"Are you up here?" said a quiet voice. 

I jumped. It was Sissy Boy. He was at the top of the ladder to the loft.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you."  Uninvited, he sat down next to me.

"What do you want?"  I pushed the magazine between my legs to hide anything and now Johnny Weissmuller was smiling up at me.

"I love the Tarzan movies."  He grabbed the magazine and pointed at the picture of Johnny in his swimsuit.  "He's very fit, isn't he?"

I politely took the magazine back.  "He is."  It was an awkward moment.  He knew what was going on.  I could tell.

Sissy Boy was blunt.  "I think he's very handsome."

I snorted.

"I do."  Sissy Boy waited to see what I was going to do.  I did nothing.  Like I said, I accepted it for what it was.

Sissy Boy leaned over and kissed me on the cheek then scurried down the ladder, looking back at me. I was smirking.  I wasn't sure what to think.  I heard him race away like a mouse.  That night, I laid in bed and still felt the soft touch of his lips press against my cheek.

The next morning, I stepped out the back door and slipped my boots on.  I needed to do some weeding in the garden.

After tying my shoe laces, that's when I saw it.  It was Gra'ma begonia that she had in a pot on the back stoop.

Against my sepia-toned world, the center of one of the flowers was bright red.

*****

I worked in the garden.  I pulled some beets and potatoes and shook the dirt off.  I handed the basket to Gra'ma and she went inside.

I needed some time to think and maybe cry.  My other private place was out in the field next to our house.  I pushed my way though the corn stalks to a large sycamore that had grown up next to an unmovable boulder.  There was a small place between the tree and the boulder where I could easily hide.

As I sat there, I could hear the rustling of the corn stalks and the leaves of the sycamore in the wind.  I was thinking about my parents.  How I missed mama's smiling face and the praise from my dad when I did well in school.  I began to cry.

"Why are you crying?"  Sissy Boy said gently and peeked around the boulder at me.

I wiped away the tears.  "You shouldn't be creepin' up on people like that."

"Sorry." Once again, he invited himself to sit next to me.  There was room for two, but it was a squeeze for both of us.

We sat there until he broke the silence.  "I miss my mother.  She died when  I was ten.  Daddy gets drunk a lot and cries for her.  My brothers say nothing and work in the fields.  I bet you miss your mother a lot too."

He was so understanding that I started crying again.  He put one arm around my shoulder and worked the fingers of his free hand into mine.  He cradled me like Gra'ma does when I get sad.  Then I could feel his lips on my forehead.  I felt a shiver.  I broke free from him.

"I gotta go."  I raced off.  I wanted to stay but for some reason I couldn't. To be honest, it wasn't right to be thinking of my dead mama and wanting to kiss Sissy Boy at the same time.

I emerged from the corn field and meandered back to the back stoop.

And there it was.  I leaned down for a closer look.  The entire begonia flower was pure red.

*****