Susan Senator

These sections from my work-in-progress on scattered throughout the blog. To get the entire book, you’ll have to hope a publisher will buy it…

Nick looked at his bowl of chili. He heard the clatter of Mommy setting down the other bowls. Slam! Dan took his seat, on the opposite side of the table from him. The air shook around him and went deep into Nick’s ears. He lifted his arms in the air and opened and closed his hands, to push the noisy air away. “Hew, ssh,” he said, which also helped quiet the air.

Henry slid in between them. Daddy was still not there. Nick looked at Daddy’s empty chair. A question-feeling formed in his mouth. He took a quick sideways glance at Mommy, putting her own bowl down and pulling out her chair.

“Whatisitnick?”

Nick turned away from her. He did not want words right now. He wanted to remember his question. But he could not.

“Nick. What. Is. The. Matter.” Said Mommy, bringing her face close to him. “Why. Aren’t. You. Eating.”

Eating. Nick smelled his food deeply. “Yes,” he whispered. He wanted to eat. His tummy was empty and making noise. It had felt like that for a long time. He did not eat his lunch today, and Maureen wasn’t there, so he did not get chefboyardee. Maureen always made him that lunch if he didn’t like the lunch. But today it was Laura and Laura did not know about chefboyardee and Nick could not remember how to tell her.

The chili smelled hot and brown. Nick liked hot and brown smells. Chili, chocolate, leaf piles, and Mommy’s garden were all hot and brown smells. But Nick could not eat because the chili had no powder on it. He looked for his spices but they weren’t there.

Suddenly Henry stood up. He walked behind Nick’s chair, into the pantry. He came back with two small bottles, the chili powder and the onion flakes. He set them down in front of Nick without a word.

“Oh, sorry, Sweetheart!” Mommy said.
Nick turned the bottle upside down and coated his beans with the red, dusty spice. Then he did the same with the onion flakes.

“Ew, how can he eat that?” asked Dan disgustedly.

Mommy smiled. “I really don’t know, Danny. I think he likes the way it feels in his mouth, don’t you Nick?”

Nick kept chewing. He did not understand what Mommy had just said, he had only heard Dan shout. But even though his ears hurt, the powder on the beans brushed his tongue like butterfly wings and he smiled.