Mom's
gentle hands pressed on the tender, bleeding area around
Johnny's
bruising eye. His parents hadn't beaten on him in a
while, but glory did they
ever make up for that this afternoon. I
handed Mom the first aid kit, careful
to avoid Johnny's charcoal
eyes. I'd never understood how a parent could hate
their own kid
so much.
She riffled through the kit, quickly finding a pair
of tweezers that had
picked glass somewhere out of everyone at one
point. Johnny closed his eyes as
mom set to work, picking out
shards of greenish glass, her face set firm with
concentration.
Johnny didn't wince, even when mom pulled out a piece of glass
that
was nearly two inches long.
I dabbed rubbing alcohol on a
clothe for mom, and Johnny didn't move as she
gently cleaned away
the blood and dirt, being careful of any pieces of glass
she may
have missed.
"Does it hurt, Johnny?" Mom asked
softly, but with a serious edge. It was
astonishing, really. She
could be lighthearted and soft, and yet still manage
to be serious
and firm.
"Not so bad," he said quietly, but I knew
he was lying. When all a kid has is
his pride, he's not about to
admit when something as seemingly small as
physical pain is
hurting him.
Mom managed to get the bleeding to slow down,
giving her and myself a
clearer view of the gash. And
gosh, was it ever huge. It started at the far
end of his right
eyebrow and cut almost into his hairline. Mom grimaced as
she
threaded a needle. Johnny still had his eyes
closed.
"Johnny," she sighed, dipping the end of the
needle in some rubbing alcohol
for good measure. She carefully
pressed the tip of the needle to one end of
the gash. "Just
sit tight, honey, it'll be over before you know it," she
said
reassuringly when Johnny flinched back a little. He gave a
small, shy smile
mom could make anyone smile and
said,
"Thanks, Mrs.Curtis." I could tell he
really meant it, and so could mom,
which got her smiling even more
as her gentle hands worked carefully on
Johnny's wound.
The
door slammed, and I nearly jumped right out of my skin as Dally
Winston
the toughest hood in Tulsa came in letting off a
sting of cusses. Boy, did
that guy have a foul mouth on him. He
glared at me, and smiled faintly at my
momma. Dally didn't smile
much, but when he did, it was something nice. I
didn't like him
none, an half the time I wondered why I even put up with him.
But
in the end, I figured it was just a mutual thing between the two of
us. I
kept my mouth shut, he didn't give me grief. The more I
thought about it the
more I realized that the only reason I knew
any of these boys was because of
my brothers.
"What
the hell happened to you, Johnnycakes?" Dally asked in a rough,
cold
voice as he struck a match on his chain and lit the cigarette
that had been
tucked behind his ear. My mom shot Dally a warning
glare, and he stubbed out
his cigarette on the bottom of his boot
and shut his mouth. Mom had that
affect on people. Don't ask me
how, I could never tell you.
