Simpler Times

Candy store comics after school. Rom has silver blasters for hands and everyone is in a panic. But it's forty cents and I only have a quarter, so I buy a bag of chips and head home 

I bounce a Spalding the entire way. When I get home William is cross-legged on the floor, box of Yodels in his lap, Woody Woodpecker on TV

Mom is on the phone. I ask when we're eating but she doesn't hear. I snatch a Yodel and kick William in the butt. He doesn't respond; he's in there with Woody

The doorbell rings and Rex starts barking. Mom hangs up, peers out the window, curses. She yells for me to put Rex in the bathroom. I drag him in by the collar and return to the livingroom 

The two men in the doorway wear dark suits. They're clean cut and reserved. "I haven't seen him in a year," she says. They nod patiently, glancing at the barking bathroom 

One hands Mom his card and they leave. She rushes to the phone. I ask again when we're eating but she doesn't hear. I free Rex and grab another Yodel 

It's 4PM. The Little Rascals is about to start