Part IV: Spin – The Mermaid Dress: #5 (Chapter 68)
After drying her off, I diapered and dressed her
in a tee-shirt.
We played Hide-and-Seek, and when I tired of that,
I let her run around the apartment; if it was noisy, the monster would sleep.
Soon Ruby curled up on the rug and dropped off to
sleep.
Clicks, bumps, and hisses bounced from every
corner of the living room.
The monster stirred.
I switched on the T.V. and sat on the sofa while
it warmed up to Father Knows Best.
Daddy Anderson’s voice and Ruby’s snoring forced the thing back under the bed.
But then something popped inside the T.V., and Daddy Anderson’s smiling face faded.
Oh, no.
I’m going to get it now.
A bright, thin line flashed across the screen, and
a disk of light, about the size of a quarter, appeared, growing smaller and
smaller into a bright pinhole and then disappearing altogether.
I got up to close both bedroom doors. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something move in the hallway, and I ran back into the living room to snatch Ruby and escape...but to where?
I stopped.
We were stuck here, in our prison, to face all
monsters and scary things that might lurk in dark corners and rooms.
We couldn’t go outside the apartment, even to the
hallway where all those strange men hung out, laughing and luring little girls
with their sugar cubes and candy canes.
One time, I’d met one on the street, but it was
daytime then, and I could run away. But now we were stuck.
C’mon out
and play, little girl!
I heard them laughing.
Then Nana’s voice:
Call the
police!
I picked up the phone, about to dial “O.”
Remember the day when the policemen came to our
apartment? – the one where I slept in the living room: Mother screaming at
Daddy Platts and calling him names I’d never heard before, Ruby bawling, I
huddling and shaking under a blanket, peeking through a slit at the policemen,
their big leather holsters and guns riding their hips.
They
might get mad and shoot me!
I slammed the phone down.
Ruby stirred but didn’t open her eyes. I wanted to
go over and shake her awake – maybe that would keep the monsters away – but she’d
be scared and cry.
I didn’t like when Ruby was unhappy or afraid.
Please,
Daddy, come home. I’m scared.
Another voice, the Mormon Bible School teacher,
the nice lady who handed out warm chocolate chip cookies after every bible
lesson:
Believe
in Jesus, and you’ll always be safe.
I wanted to believe. I closed my eyes, bowed my
head, and put my palms together, touching my lips with fingertips, just like
Nana had taught me.
Jesus, I
believe in You.
Jesus, I
believe in You.
Jesus, I
love You.
I felt a little better. “Okay,” I said to the monster. “I know you’re still there, but I’m not scared anymore, so there.”
I saw Mother’s big scissors on the end table and
picked them up. “You can’t hurt me now.” I walked toward the dark hallway.
Something moved again, and I jumped, but I kept
going.
“I dare you to come out now!”
Then, a silhouette in the hall mirror, near
mother’s forbidden closet.
I flicked on the hall light.
Whew!
No monster, after all.
Just me, gripping a pair of scissors, staring back at the real me, the monster me.
