Little Children Read Free Page A

kneecaps, inflicting a dull pain Sarah thought she probably deserved and might even begin to enjoy in a second or two.
    Her copy of The Handmaid’s Tale was lying cover down, on top of The Berenstain Bears Visit the Dentist , and the sight of the two books filled her with an odd sense of shame. She felt a sudden burst of kinship for those medieval flagellants who used to walk through town, publicly thrashing themselves to atone for their sins. Pretty soon she’d be packing a whip in the diaper bag.
    “Maybe you should make a checklist,” Mary Ann told her. “Tape it to the door so it’s the last thing you see before leaving the house. That’s what I do.”
    I am not long for this playground, Sarah thought. She looked up and forced herself to smile.
    “Thank you,” she said. “That’s a really helpful suggestion.”

The Skateboarders
    EIGHTY-ONE…EIGHTY-TWO…
    Kathy called from the cell phone around four, when Aaron was napping, and Todd was nearing the end of his third and final set of push-ups.
    Eighty-three …
    “Hi,” she said, the answering machine broadcasting her staticky voice throughout the downstairs. “How are my two favorite boys? Did you have fun at the pool?”
    Eighty-five …
    “Todd, I’m not going to be home until six-thirty. One of the POW interviews ran late, and I’ve been playing catch-up all afternoon. Sorry about that.”
    He groaned, trying not to break rhythm… Eighty-seven …he’d been hoping to get a run in before dinner… Eighty-eight …leaning to the left… Eighty-nine …better straighten out…
    “The hamburgers and Smart Dogs are in the fridge, you just need to make the salad and marinate the peppers and eggplant in some of the good olive oil. All right, I guess that’s it. Be a good boy for Daddy, Aaron. Mommy loves you. Bye.”
    Ninety-two …his arms were shaking… Ninety-three …really wanted to go for that run… Ninety-four …fucking POWs… Ninety-five …Smart Dogs, what a stupid name… Ninety-six …gonna be hell to pay in a few years… Ninety-seven …when all these kids wake up and realize that they’ve been eating these crappy vegetarian hot dogs… Ninety-eight …two to go… Ninety-nine …all you, baby… One hundred …Yes!
    He sprang from the floor, his body humming from the surge of bliss that three sets of a hundred push-ups each never failed to inspire. Sure, there were lots of things in the world that sucked. Kathy working late, for instance, screwing up his exercise plans. How she was always so tired when she got home, and guilty about being away from Aaron all day. And the way she acted like it was all Todd’s fault, which it was, to a certain extent, but what was the point of reminding him all the time?
    On the other hand, lots of things didn’t suck. Long summer days with nothing to do but hang out. Afternoons at the pool, surrounded by young mothers in their bathing suits. And the way his body felt right now, the blood pumping into the muscles, the excellent soreness in his triceps. And when Aaron called out for him just then, right on time, there was something beautiful about that, too, the way a little kid needed you for everything and wasn’t afraid to say so.
    “Hold on, little buddy,” he said. “I’ll be right there.”
     
    Most mornings Aaron woke up bright-eyed and affectionate, bursting with puppyish energy for the new day. Afternoon naps, necessary as they were, tended to produce the opposite effect. He emerged from his bedroom dazed and sullen as a teenager, his jester’s cap flattened and comically askew, sodden diaper hanging halfway to his knees. Even the most innocent question— Would you like a snack? —could send him over the edge, into a screaming fit or bout of heart-broken sobbing. Months of trial and error had taught Todd not to say a word. He just set Mr. Crabby into a chair, handed him a sippy cup of milk and an Oreo, and cranked up Raffi in Concert on the boom box.
    While Aaron zoned out at the