The game was called on account of dogs--Hunter in the infield, Tucker in the infield, Bosco and Boone at first base. First grader Donald sat down on second base, and Kirsten grabbed her brother’s arm and wouldn’t let him leave third to make his first run.
“Unfair!” her brother screamed, and the dogs, roving umpires, ran to third.
“Good power!” their uncle yelled, when Joy, in a leg cast, swung the bat and missed. “Now put some wood to it.”
And when she did, Joy’s designated runner, Cousin Zeke, ran to first, the ice cubes in his gin and tonic, clacking like dog tags in the glass.
And when Kelly broke free from Kirsten and this time came in to make the run, members of the Kelly team made Tucker in the infield dance on his hind legs.
“It’s not who wins—“ their coach began, and was shouted down by one of the boys, “There’s first and then there’s forget it.”
Then Hunter retrieved a foul ball and carried it off in the direction of the river.
The other dogs followed--barking, mutinous.
Dinner was a simple picnic on the porch, paper plates in laps, the only conversation a debate as to which was the better grip for throwing shoes.
After dinner, the horseshoes were handed out, the post pounded in, the rules reviewed with a new rule added due to falling-down shorts. The new rule: Have attire.
The women smoked on the porch, the smoke repelling mosquitoes, and the men and children played on even after dusk when it got so dark that a candle was rigged to balance on top of the post, and was knocked off and blown out by every single almost-ringer.
Then the children went to bed, or at least went upstairs, and the men joined the women for a cigarette on the porch, absently picking ticks engorged like grapes off the sleeping dogs. And when the men kissed the women good night, and their weekend whiskers scratched the women’s cheeks, the women did not think shave, they thought: stay.
*”Weekend” , published in the short story collection Tumble Home , Simon & Schuster, Inc. , New York, 1997, appeared first in Harper’s. Permission to reproduce granted by author.
Amy Hempel. Writer. New York City, New York, U.S.A. Ms. Hempel has published three collections of short stories: Tumble Home, At the Gates of the Animal Kingdom, and Reasons to Live. Her work has been collected in Best American Short Stories, Pushcart Prize Anthology, and Norton Anthology of Short Fiction.
©2004 Voices Underground
an Earthwork by Patricia Goodrich
www.patriciagoodrich.com
Email: patricia@patriciagoodrich.com
