Bleaching Out II
Thinking about the past and about Frank and about Eddie and her fight with Emily is before the bleach happened, as ordering take-out and flipping through mail is before the bleach, as thinking about tuna fish sandwiches for lunch tomorrow and if they would even get eaten is all before the bleach too.
And the bleach is something Ally wishes happened like tornadoes happen or earthquakes or even cancer, a thing beyond control.
“Mom, Emily’s sick again.” She doesn’t believe Thom at first. And when she enters the laundry room she thinks briefly about calling the counselor. Ditto for the psychiatrist. She tells Thom to go to his room.
Bleach pools all over the floor and all over Emily like the girl poured all three bottles of buy two get one free bleach over the top of her pink head. And Emily smiles and shows all of her bad teeth. Ally stumbles backward whether from the strong odor of the bleach or from the sick grin on her niece’s face she is not sure.
And she yells for Don and transforms into another Ally, the Ally that she’s met only a couple of times before, once when Frank died and then again when she moved across the country. This other Ally isn’t Talbot’s Ally. This Ally doesn’t care where she shops or what she looks like. It’s all about getting through whatever “it” is. This Ally is imageless and imageless Ally barks, “Dial poison control, now.”
“We need her to throw-up,” Don says.
And after a few seconds, he adds, “Wait, she needs to drink milk.”
Imageless Ally swings into action. Milk is poured. Both Imageless Ally and Talbot’s Ally growl at Emily.
Talbot’s Ally wants to be back in tuna fish or peanut butter and take-out. In this craziness over bleach on hair and bleach in her niece’s stomach, in the seconds of waiting and watching the progress of one glass of milk, and whether the milk will make it into Emily, Ally begins to smell the inside of a department store all around them. She believes Father Beni would say this is an omen from g-d and she should listen. A new outfit for Emily flashes in her mind, the khaki pants (the ones Emily refuses to wear) pair with double shirts, maybe a contrasting pattern on top she thinks, but she can’t decide. G-d tells her Emily needs new shoes too and she immediately thinks of pretty strap sandals and painted toes, a shimmery polish, something in red with flecks of gold.
Ally starts hyperventilating, but she recovers, she can still smell the department store air. She hears Talbot’s Ally’s breathy whine, “Drink the milk, honey, and I’ll take you shopping.” Imageless Ally lunges towards the girl and the glass.
Drink the milk, or else.
And the bleach is something Ally wishes happened like tornadoes happen or earthquakes or even cancer, a thing beyond control.
“Mom, Emily’s sick again.” She doesn’t believe Thom at first. And when she enters the laundry room she thinks briefly about calling the counselor. Ditto for the psychiatrist. She tells Thom to go to his room.
Bleach pools all over the floor and all over Emily like the girl poured all three bottles of buy two get one free bleach over the top of her pink head. And Emily smiles and shows all of her bad teeth. Ally stumbles backward whether from the strong odor of the bleach or from the sick grin on her niece’s face she is not sure.
And she yells for Don and transforms into another Ally, the Ally that she’s met only a couple of times before, once when Frank died and then again when she moved across the country. This other Ally isn’t Talbot’s Ally. This Ally doesn’t care where she shops or what she looks like. It’s all about getting through whatever “it” is. This Ally is imageless and imageless Ally barks, “Dial poison control, now.”
“We need her to throw-up,” Don says.
And after a few seconds, he adds, “Wait, she needs to drink milk.”
Imageless Ally swings into action. Milk is poured. Both Imageless Ally and Talbot’s Ally growl at Emily.
Talbot’s Ally wants to be back in tuna fish or peanut butter and take-out. In this craziness over bleach on hair and bleach in her niece’s stomach, in the seconds of waiting and watching the progress of one glass of milk, and whether the milk will make it into Emily, Ally begins to smell the inside of a department store all around them. She believes Father Beni would say this is an omen from g-d and she should listen. A new outfit for Emily flashes in her mind, the khaki pants (the ones Emily refuses to wear) pair with double shirts, maybe a contrasting pattern on top she thinks, but she can’t decide. G-d tells her Emily needs new shoes too and she immediately thinks of pretty strap sandals and painted toes, a shimmery polish, something in red with flecks of gold.
Ally starts hyperventilating, but she recovers, she can still smell the department store air. She hears Talbot’s Ally’s breathy whine, “Drink the milk, honey, and I’ll take you shopping.” Imageless Ally lunges towards the girl and the glass.
Drink the milk, or else.
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