my face. She was off the couch in a second and skipping out into the kitchen ahead of me, her body dancing side to side like an excited puppy.
‘Stew,’ I said. ‘Stew and salad and bread.’
‘Is that all?’
‘That’s all.’
‘Why don’t you ever keep any good stuff around?’
‘Like what?’ I asked.
‘Like ice cream or Cokes or something?’
‘Because that’s not what I make my suppers out of.’
‘Oh well,’ she said good-naturedly. ‘If that’s what we gotta have, then that’s what we gotta have, huh?’
I nodded.
I gave her the lettuce to wash and the carrots to slice. Touché she shouted to herself and stabbed the knife into the air at unseen dangers. I took it and the carrots and let her shake the dressing instead.
And then as I was putting the stew into bowls, Charity came bounding over and leaned across my arm to see what was happening.
‘Tor?’
‘Yes?’
‘Can I spend the night with you?’
‘No, I don’t think so. It’s a school night.’
‘So? What difference does that make? I’ll still go to school.’
‘You need to go home and get a bath and –’
‘Why?’ she interrupted, looking down at herself. ‘Am I dirty? Don’t you got a bathtub here?’
‘That’s not the point. It’s a school night. You ought to be home in bed and then be able to get up and put on school clothes and get there before the bell rings. It would be too hard from clear over here. We’re practically across town. And I have to leave for work a lot earlier than you have to go to school.’
‘It wouldn’t be so hard. I could do it. I could wear these here clothes. They ain’t dirty. I could get up real, real early. Okay? Can I? Please?’
I shook my head and handed her a bowl of stew. ‘No, not on a school night, Charity. Maybe some weekend. But not on a school night. End of conversation.’
Carefully she carried her bowl over to the table. Setting it down, she climbed up onto the chair. ‘You gonna have a man over here tonight, is that how come I can’t?’
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