There was a knock at my door. I shut down the computer. It was both my parents together.
‘Can’t she open a window?’ my father asked, moving in and swatting the air.
My mother flinched. ‘Do it yourself.’
My father wrestled with my window until it unstuck. Then he bent down and huffed the cold air from the screen. It was overdramatic. My father’s hair wasn’t combed. His nose was still red from the sun in Key West.
‘You looking forward to going back to school?’ My mom’s voice was too quiet. She sat down on the edge of my bed.
‘You know I’m not.’
‘You’ve been using the cortisone,’ my dad said. ‘So it’s already getting better.’
‘You can go out with Jen and Charlene and those girls, you know. You can sleep over at Jen’s. We discussed that. That’s fine with us now.’
There’s this guy, this man who thinks I’m beautiful and he made me this necklace that protects me and he’s going to come here and see me!
‘We want you to be happy ... ’ My father’s voice cracked.
I looked at him. He covered his face with both hands.
‘It’s okay, Myra. He’s okay.’
I thought of a hyena, shot in the foot.
‘I’m not okay, Irene! Don’t put words in my mouth.’
I could only look at my mother. Not the force field of pain that was suddenly my father.
‘You know when you have a fight with Jen, or one of your friends, Myra?’ My mother’s voice was too calm. ‘Well, your dad and I have had a lot of fights lately ... ’
My dad rubbed his face hard. ‘Why did we have to do this at the same time?’
Both of our faces were too red and sore, it felt weirdly genetic.
‘You can leave now, Neil, if you want.’
‘No!’ my father screamed, his snout scrunched. ‘You made me do this with you. Let’s finish it. Christ. She’s not a child anymore.’
I wished Jody were here in my room, Jeff too.
‘Your father and I think that it would be better if we took a break from each other,’ my mother said.
Then my father stumbled forward as if he were going to punch a wall.
‘Just leave now, Neil,’ my mother commanded.
My father changed directions and lurched out of my room.
‘He’s just upset,’ my mother said. ‘He’ll be okay. He’s an adult.’
I mean, I knew my parents didn’t have a great relationship, I’d even told Jen before that I thought they should get a divorce like her parents. But now it felt like a hammer, a table cracked down the middle.
‘I have a lot of interests, things I need to do, Myra ... ’
‘When’s it going to happen?’ My room gusted with cold.
‘Oh, Myra ... ’