Snow Angels

Outside, it snowed. Inside, the family ate supper.

“The potatoes are too salty, Marjorie. Did you add a lot of salt to them?”

Marjorie shook her head and then leaned down to tie her shoe.

“Where’s Greg?”

“Who?”

“Cousin Greg”

“Oh. Gregory. He’s away. In New York City, if you can believe it. With his girlfriend”

“Fiancé, Barbara. It’s his Fiancé.”

“Well…I’ll believe it when I see it, Marjorie”

“Pop, can we go out after dinner and make a snowman?”

“Maybe, son. For now let’s finish eating. Eat your vegetables and your potatoes. They’ll get cold”

“You don’t have to eat them if their too salty, Tim”

“Barbara, please”

They sat in silence again. Finally, Peter, the Father, said, “I think the potatoes are great, Marjorie". Barbara furrowed her brow slightly and looked over at Peter. “I suppose”, she said.

“Can we call him at least?”

“Who?”

“Whom”

“What?”

“Call whom, Mom”

“Oh, jeez. OK, Professor. Call whom?”

“GREG!”

“Again with Greg!”

Greg was Marjorie’s son, Barbara’s Nephew.

“Honey, there’s a time difference. It’s late where your Cousin Greg is”, said Marjorie.

“What time is it there?”

“Oh, let’s see…” Marjorie checked her watch. “Well, it’s almost 8 here so…almost 11. 11pm”

“Oh, boy. I can’t even stay up til 11!”

“That’s right! It’s past your bedtime there! So let’s let Greg be for tonight. OK, Tim?”

“OK, Aunt Marjorie”

Barbara stood up and scratched her thigh. She announced, “I’m going into the kitchen to fix a drink and take dessert out of the oven. Does anyone need anything?”

“Some milk, Mom”

“I’ll have a scotch, Barb. On the rocks”

“Marjorie?”

“No, thank you. I’m…I’m going to go outside and get some air”

Marjorie stood up and looked at Barbara for a moment before turning and walking to the door.

“Is Aunt Marjorie OK, Pop?”

“She’ll be fine, Tim. She…she….just misses your Cousin Greg a lot”

“I miss him too”

“Not like she does, son. It’s…different when…you’ll understand when you have kids”

“Eww. I do NOT want to have kids. You have to put your pee-pee in a girl’s butthole to have a baby”

Peter laughed in spite of himself.

“Tim! Watch your mouth!”, Barbara yelled from the kitchen.

“Tim. You don’t…son, who told you that?”

“Bobby Jenkins. He said that’s how you make a baby”

“That’s not how it works”

“He lied? But he never lies. His parents go to church and everything”

“I’m sure he thinks he’s right, Tim. That’s not how it works though”

“How do you make a baby then?”

Peter sat speechless for a moment. He grabbed the back of his neck and let out a sigh.

“Um…I don’t…how old are you now, son?”

“Eight. Pop! My birthday was just last month!”

“Oh. Yeah. I’m not…well…” Peter leaned closer to Tim. “I’ll tell you later, OK? When your Mother isn’t around”, he whispered.

“Is it a secret?” Tim whispered back.

“No…but I don’t know if your Mother wants you to know quite yet. Alright?”

“Alright”

Outside, Marjorie sat on the cold ground smoking a cigarette. She looked up at the stars in the dark, cloudless sky.

“Pop, I’m done with my supper. Can I go outside and play with Aunt Marjorie?”

Peter let out another sigh. “I suppose. I need to talk with your Mother anyway. But, Tim…if your Aunt says she wants to be alone…leave her alone, OK?”

“OK, Pop”

Tim put on his hat and gloves and went outside to sit next to Marjorie who was now lying on the cold ground.

“Whatcha doin’?”

“Nothing, Tim. Just…thinking”

“About what?”

“Oh…nothing. Your Cousin Greg. Your Mother. Lots of things”. She flicked her cigarette over the hill, into the darkness.

Marjorie turned to Tim and smiled.

“Why you sitting on the cold, wet ground like that? You’re gonna get cold, Aunt Marjorie”

“No reason, Tim.”

“You want to make a snow angel?”

Marjorie laughed.

“Ha. I haven't made a snow angel in...sure. You and me, kiddo. Let's make us a whole army of snow angels”

“OK!”

Marjorie and Tim lay in the snow for some time, making snow angels and laughing.

Inside, Barbara and Peter got drunk in the kitchen and ate blackberry pie.

“Let’s go see what the kids are up to, Peter”

“Your Sister isn’t a kid, Barb. She’s a grown woman”

“Oh, hush. You know what I mean”

Peter and Barbara laughed when they found Tim and Marjorie in the snow like that.

“You wanna help make snow angels, Ma?”

“Oh, what the hell. Peter?”

“Shit. Why the hell not?”

“Pop! You said the s word!”

“It’s OK, Tim. You can say that word when you’re an adult”

“I can’t wait to be an adult!”

The family spent the long winter night outside like that. The smoke from their breath hovered in the air above them; it drifted up above their heads and then over the house until it became invisible.