Allie twined her hand around the metal bars of the swingset and spun in a circle,
humming lightly. The pattern of the sun through the tree branches was reflected onto her eyes, and they gleamed like lightbulbs. Just then, Julie heard a child-like squawk and turned to find her baby brother ambling towards them. He was only in his Pull-ups, as if he’d just narrowly escaped the tortures of potty training. Although he was already three, he hadn’t quite got the hang of holding it in yet and was often found with a soaked diaper. He stumbled towards Julie with drool dripping down his chin and cheeks burning red from heat. Placing his meaty palm on the skin of her knee he grinned up at her. Even the feel of his skin was too hot to bear. She swiped at him.
“Bobby what are you doing out here? I told you to leave me alone when I’m with my
friends,” Julie said.
Bobby giggled and hugged at her leg. “Why?” he said. That had become his favorite
word. It drove Julie nuts.
Allie untwined herself from the swingset and patted Bobby roughly on the head. Bobby a
panting puppy and her a watchful owner. “You know, he is kinda cute,” she said. “Let him play with us.”
Julie wrestled Bobby’s grip from her legs and directed him towards Allie. “Here, if you
like him so much you can play with him.
Allie watched with a twinkle in her eye as Bobby stumbled towards her. “He’s so little,”
she said. “I bet he’d do anything you asked.”
Bobby was now crouched in the grass, stroking the mud with his hand much like Julie
had with her toes.
“That’s not true,” Julie said. “He won’t use the toilet, even if you ask him nicely.”
Spring 2020 / 105