Read Online The Pirate Queen by Patricia Hickman - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Patricia Hickman
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Gwennie stay and talk. I’ve got to finish my reading,” he said, getting up from the table. He turned and looked at Gwennie and said, “I’m sorry. It’s the pressure of tomorrow that brought out the worst in me. Not your mama.” His cell phone vibrated, so he took it out and said, “I’ll be. It’s Sam the Hammer.” He left the table.
“Who is Sam the Hammer?” asked Gwennie.
“Minor league pitcher for the Tigers,” said Saphora.
“Dad knows a baseball player?”
“They fish and play golf together.” There was a rumor that Sam Hammersley was being scouted for the Cleveland Indians.
Bender held up his hand as if Saphora and Gwennie were talking too loud. He disappeared into the library.
Saphora did not want to respond childishly to Bender, so she fell quiet. He had a history for bringing closure to an argument without apologizing. She used to imagine scoring a winning point. But what was the use? She sat silent. “You don’t have to do the dishes,” she said to Gwennie.
“I want to,” Gwennie said. She went outside to collect the boys’ lunch leftovers.
Saphora stood over the sink. She battled the strangest array of thoughts. She defined it as a mixture of guilt and anger. It was not a new emotion. It was an old resurrected hybrid of emotions she had come to know during the first ten years of their marriage when she could not for the life of her figure out how to win an argument with Bender. His negotiation skills were nearly at a genius level. Even when he brought the matter to a close, there was a nagging cloud hanging over Saphora that said even though his tone had gentled, he used a codified language that only alluded to his need to get on with the night so he could fall asleep listening to Bread.
She revisited the conversation to the point where she had set him off. Then she got angry with herself for having said anything at all.
She looked through the window over the sink and found Tobias hanging upside down out of the tree looking straight at her. He was like a lucky charm for her emotions. She laughed and that set him to clapping his hands as if it had been his intent all along to bring her out of the doldrums.
He tried to pull himself up, but his tiny abdominal muscles would not respond. Gwennie went up the ladder and helped him slide up into her arms. Then he climbed back down onto the ground.
By nightfall Tobias had gotten on his bicycle and gone home.
Eddie said to Saphora, “Tobias told me that his father said he could win the prize for the most pills taken in a day. He had to take more, so that’s why he had to leave.”
Saphora couldn’t figure out Tobias’s illness.
Eddie manipulated Gwennie until she gave in and joined him in a violent video game. The goal of the game was to cut off the opponent’shead and then win another pail of green goo that gave the victor more power over his enemy. Gwennie’s sorceress kept losing her head. That meant she had to use her potions to restore her own head. By the end of the game, Eddie had taken her castle and all of her servants as slaves. Eddie shouted when his monster changed the sorceress into a whining cat. The game was over.
Saphora stowed the last of the leftover pizza and salad in the fridge, then excused herself. Bender had taken a sleeping pill early on and was snoring quietly in the upstairs bed. Saphora slipped on a pair of white terry slippers she had bought recently and absent-mindedly tucked into her suitcase. She pulled a sweater over her head and walked out onto the balcony. Suction from within and without snapped the door closed behind her.
Night had fallen over the Neuse River. A lighthouse was blowing light across the ocean beyond the hillocks of marsh grass. Saphora swished leaves off the deck bench seat and found solace sitting quietly with no one to ask anything of her.
She could nearly see the house next to them through the fog. The tree-lined fence separating the houses blocked much of her view, but she
“Who is Sam the Hammer?” asked Gwennie.
“Minor league pitcher for the Tigers,” said Saphora.
“Dad knows a baseball player?”
“They fish and play golf together.” There was a rumor that Sam Hammersley was being scouted for the Cleveland Indians.
Bender held up his hand as if Saphora and Gwennie were talking too loud. He disappeared into the library.
Saphora did not want to respond childishly to Bender, so she fell quiet. He had a history for bringing closure to an argument without apologizing. She used to imagine scoring a winning point. But what was the use? She sat silent. “You don’t have to do the dishes,” she said to Gwennie.
“I want to,” Gwennie said. She went outside to collect the boys’ lunch leftovers.
Saphora stood over the sink. She battled the strangest array of thoughts. She defined it as a mixture of guilt and anger. It was not a new emotion. It was an old resurrected hybrid of emotions she had come to know during the first ten years of their marriage when she could not for the life of her figure out how to win an argument with Bender. His negotiation skills were nearly at a genius level. Even when he brought the matter to a close, there was a nagging cloud hanging over Saphora that said even though his tone had gentled, he used a codified language that only alluded to his need to get on with the night so he could fall asleep listening to Bread.
She revisited the conversation to the point where she had set him off. Then she got angry with herself for having said anything at all.
She looked through the window over the sink and found Tobias hanging upside down out of the tree looking straight at her. He was like a lucky charm for her emotions. She laughed and that set him to clapping his hands as if it had been his intent all along to bring her out of the doldrums.
He tried to pull himself up, but his tiny abdominal muscles would not respond. Gwennie went up the ladder and helped him slide up into her arms. Then he climbed back down onto the ground.
By nightfall Tobias had gotten on his bicycle and gone home.
Eddie said to Saphora, “Tobias told me that his father said he could win the prize for the most pills taken in a day. He had to take more, so that’s why he had to leave.”
Saphora couldn’t figure out Tobias’s illness.
Eddie manipulated Gwennie until she gave in and joined him in a violent video game. The goal of the game was to cut off the opponent’shead and then win another pail of green goo that gave the victor more power over his enemy. Gwennie’s sorceress kept losing her head. That meant she had to use her potions to restore her own head. By the end of the game, Eddie had taken her castle and all of her servants as slaves. Eddie shouted when his monster changed the sorceress into a whining cat. The game was over.
Saphora stowed the last of the leftover pizza and salad in the fridge, then excused herself. Bender had taken a sleeping pill early on and was snoring quietly in the upstairs bed. Saphora slipped on a pair of white terry slippers she had bought recently and absent-mindedly tucked into her suitcase. She pulled a sweater over her head and walked out onto the balcony. Suction from within and without snapped the door closed behind her.
Night had fallen over the Neuse River. A lighthouse was blowing light across the ocean beyond the hillocks of marsh grass. Saphora swished leaves off the deck bench seat and found solace sitting quietly with no one to ask anything of her.
She could nearly see the house next to them through the fog. The tree-lined fence separating the houses blocked much of her view, but she
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