Read Online Little Children by Tom Perrotta - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Tom Perrotta
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daughter. Still hasn’t gotten over it.”
“He exposed himself to a Girl Scout?”
“Sweet little kid. She was just selling cookies.” Larry lowered the binoculars. “Joanie thinks I’m obsessed with this creep. She thinks if I had a job, I wouldn’t be driving by his house five or six times a day.”
Larry tossed his binoculars into the backseat and grabbed a handful of flyers off the stack that was resting on Todd’s lap.
“But I kinda feel like this is my job,” he said. “There’s a roll of tape in the glove compartment. Could you grab it for me?”
Kathy was still awake, hiding behind a fat biography of Eisenhower when Todd entered the bedroom. Aaron was asleep beside his mother.
“Where were you?” she asked, striking a tone of profound indifference.
For an instant, Todd actually considered telling her the truth—i.e., that instead of studying he’d spent the night playing tackle football with a bunch of cops—but then he saw a better way.
“I joined the Committee of Concerned Parents,” he told her. “We’re distributing the flyers about that creep on Blueberry Court.”
It was not technically a lie, at least not the second part. They had distributed flyers—Larry had taped about a dozen on the pervert’s front door, and then he and Todd had tossed handfuls out of the car windows as they drove away, littering the neighborhood with warnings. It was actually kind of fun, letting the wind pull the papers out of his hand, watching the individual sheets flutter and dive to the ground.
Kathy put down her book and studied him with a quality of attention he rarely received from her these days. He was delighted to see that she was wearing her black camisole, the semisheer one that offered a shadowy glimpse of her nipples, but his pleasure was diluted somewhat by the thought—not the first time it had passed through his head—that she was a lot more likely to wear something sexy to bed on nights when she was home alone with Aaron. When Todd was around she favored extra-large sweatpants in weird colors and T-shirts that hung to her knees.
“You remember Larry Moon?” he continued. “That retired cop from the sprinkler park?”
“The guy with the twins?”
“Yeah, it’s his organization.”
“I thought you didn’t like him.”
“I can take him or leave him. But this committee makes a lot of sense. It’s pretty scary having a guy like that living right in town.”
Kathy glanced at Aaron, who was sprawled out on his back, one arm bent at a right angle, the other sticking out straight. There were bunnies and carrots on his pajamas.
“I know,” she said, touching him tenderly on the forehead. “I hate to even think about it.”
Todd showered with the efficiency of a man who believes he has a fairly decent chance of getting laid if he hurries. All the stars were in alignment—Kathy was awake and wearing black underwear; Aaron was far away in dreamland. What was there to stop them, aside from a little soreness in his ribs?
This is what we need, he thought, brushing his teeth at twice the normal speed. Something to take my mind off that kiss.
Todd was painfully aware of the fact that he and Kathy had not made love for over three weeks. First, she’d had her period, then she’d been stressed out at work. One or the other of them was usually too tired at night, and Aaron was always hanging around in the morning, ready to intervene at the slightest sign of physical contact that didn’t involve him. About six months earlier, they’d somehow managed to plop him in front of the TV by himself while they shared a precious—if somewhat distracted—half hour upstairs. Todd still remembered how good it felt afterward, lounging around like royalty in his bathrobe, sipping coffee and exchanging significant glances with his wife, but it was a one-shot deal. Now, whenever Todd—it was always Todd—suggested that Aaron go downstairs and watch PBS while he and Mommy “rested” for
“He exposed himself to a Girl Scout?”
“Sweet little kid. She was just selling cookies.” Larry lowered the binoculars. “Joanie thinks I’m obsessed with this creep. She thinks if I had a job, I wouldn’t be driving by his house five or six times a day.”
Larry tossed his binoculars into the backseat and grabbed a handful of flyers off the stack that was resting on Todd’s lap.
“But I kinda feel like this is my job,” he said. “There’s a roll of tape in the glove compartment. Could you grab it for me?”
Kathy was still awake, hiding behind a fat biography of Eisenhower when Todd entered the bedroom. Aaron was asleep beside his mother.
“Where were you?” she asked, striking a tone of profound indifference.
For an instant, Todd actually considered telling her the truth—i.e., that instead of studying he’d spent the night playing tackle football with a bunch of cops—but then he saw a better way.
“I joined the Committee of Concerned Parents,” he told her. “We’re distributing the flyers about that creep on Blueberry Court.”
It was not technically a lie, at least not the second part. They had distributed flyers—Larry had taped about a dozen on the pervert’s front door, and then he and Todd had tossed handfuls out of the car windows as they drove away, littering the neighborhood with warnings. It was actually kind of fun, letting the wind pull the papers out of his hand, watching the individual sheets flutter and dive to the ground.
Kathy put down her book and studied him with a quality of attention he rarely received from her these days. He was delighted to see that she was wearing her black camisole, the semisheer one that offered a shadowy glimpse of her nipples, but his pleasure was diluted somewhat by the thought—not the first time it had passed through his head—that she was a lot more likely to wear something sexy to bed on nights when she was home alone with Aaron. When Todd was around she favored extra-large sweatpants in weird colors and T-shirts that hung to her knees.
“You remember Larry Moon?” he continued. “That retired cop from the sprinkler park?”
“The guy with the twins?”
“Yeah, it’s his organization.”
“I thought you didn’t like him.”
“I can take him or leave him. But this committee makes a lot of sense. It’s pretty scary having a guy like that living right in town.”
Kathy glanced at Aaron, who was sprawled out on his back, one arm bent at a right angle, the other sticking out straight. There were bunnies and carrots on his pajamas.
“I know,” she said, touching him tenderly on the forehead. “I hate to even think about it.”
Todd showered with the efficiency of a man who believes he has a fairly decent chance of getting laid if he hurries. All the stars were in alignment—Kathy was awake and wearing black underwear; Aaron was far away in dreamland. What was there to stop them, aside from a little soreness in his ribs?
This is what we need, he thought, brushing his teeth at twice the normal speed. Something to take my mind off that kiss.
Todd was painfully aware of the fact that he and Kathy had not made love for over three weeks. First, she’d had her period, then she’d been stressed out at work. One or the other of them was usually too tired at night, and Aaron was always hanging around in the morning, ready to intervene at the slightest sign of physical contact that didn’t involve him. About six months earlier, they’d somehow managed to plop him in front of the TV by himself while they shared a precious—if somewhat distracted—half hour upstairs. Todd still remembered how good it felt afterward, lounging around like royalty in his bathrobe, sipping coffee and exchanging significant glances with his wife, but it was a one-shot deal. Now, whenever Todd—it was always Todd—suggested that Aaron go downstairs and watch PBS while he and Mommy “rested” for
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