Momma is on the couch and her legs is up on it, and she's staring into space, waiting for Daddy, I guess. I sit down next to her and I say "I think they's something wrong with Daddy. He ain't look the same and that's not..." Momma hushes me as Daddy strolls inside, smiling at the both of us.

“There you both are! Sitting right on that couch! My but that does look comfortable!” He eases on over to us and says causally, “well! where that other one at? Where that other murdering bastard at?” He gives me a wink, a just between us joke. We ain’t respond and Daddy sighs, then quick springs at Momma and gives her a slap across the face that sounds like a rifle shot. She holds a hand up and touches her face, and I can see it’s red already. She points in the direction of our room. “Good! Real good! So you did know where he was! Ain’t that excellent!” Daddy tromps across the room and out of sight. I hear him in there mumbling, and I’m terrible afraid he’s going to do something to Jacob, but he comes out and is smiling. “Great! What a great time we’re all having! Scamp!” He points at me, “you all having a grand time out here?”

I say quietly “yes Daddy” and Daddy says “yes Daddy! Yes indeed, Daddy! Having a grand ol’ time out here he is! Finally getting agreeable and understanding where things lay. The lay of the land!” I nod my head, yes yes yes, and he chortles “don’t agree too hard or your head will fall right off! Right on off your neck! We can’t have that nohow, although I don’t think Jacob would care too much if it did, ain’t that right?” I say yes again and Daddy is laughing hard and pumping his arms in the air. “Whataboutyou!” He stops suddenly and points at Momma, who’s still holding her hand on her slapped cheek. She nods once, sullenly. “No no no. I can tell you ain’t having fun.” He sighs then tilts his head and starts muttering, putting his hand on his chin.

“Now what can make that woman so that she’s having more fun. What. Makes. The fun.” Daddy goes all the way quiet and stays that way for so long, that I can’t even tell if he’s breathing any more. I shuffle my foot a little bit, and that makes Daddy explode like I done lit off a bottle rocket “I know!” He shouts “you’re coming with me, little lady! Time to have us some fun fun fun in the sun sun sun!” He grabs Momma’s arm and yanks her off the couch. She gives a yelp and Daddy is laughing now. She falls and now he’s dragging her across the floor and out the front door and into the garden.

I jump off the couch and look out the window, and my knuckle is in my mouth, and I’m biting it to keep from screaming. Daddy is beating on Momma with a hoe and dancing around her, tearing her clothes off and laughing like it’s the funniest thing in the world, and I can’t watch no more. I slide to the floor and I hear Momma screaming outside. I cover my ears and get up to run. I catch a glimpse outside and Daddy is doing something to her with the end of the garden hoe between her legs. I close my eyes now and I stumble into me and Jacob’s room, and climb into bed, and hide under the covers, and wish it all away.

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The sun is shining through the window, and I’m happy to get on outside and play with Jacob in the backyard. I bet he comes up with something what all is fun what I never done before. I can come up with some things in my head, but Jacob is better at the plannin’ stage what with doing the things we talk about. He sure is good at that. I turn over to see if he’s up yet, but I’m confused since the room was all wrong. I guess I had a pretty good rest for I ain’t remember where all exactly I am.

It comes back to me in a small wave, then a bigger one when I remember what happened when Daddy come back. I quick spring up and check on Jacob. He done filled his pants again and has been sitting in his juices for a while I since he smells a little worse than he usually do. I hear a slippery slidey sound coming from the living room, getting closer to the bedroom, so I dive back into bed and cover my head with my blanket. Ain’t nothing can get me when I’m like that, or at least nothing has so far.

The sound enters the room and goes quiet. So quiet, for so long, that I think maybe I heard something what wasn’t there from the start. I slow lower the covers so my eyes is just peeking out, and there’s Daddy, leaned way over the bed so his head is right above mine. He shouts “I got ya, ya fukkin’ sneaker!” He grabs my ankles and yanks me out of bed so I land on my back on the floor. He gives a great laugh and says “ennie meenie fukkin’ mo, I’m the tiger now and I done got your fukkin’ toe!” He laughs a mean laugh and Daddy ain’t never swore this much before and it made my heart race, like I’m hearing something I ain’t supposed to. “Now get the fuck up and get to doin’ some shit around here. I ain’t care what, slap your momma’s butt, jump off the roof, eat a handful of spiders, whatever little fukkin’ kids do, but do it somewhere other than here in this bed you fukkin’ lazy ass.”

Daddy goes quiet then. I’m lying on the floor, leaned against the wall, wondering what happened with my real Daddy. He slaps his hand on his leg. “This piece of shit still here?” Daddy looks at me but I ain’t answer. “I said he still here?!” Daddy gives me a slap on the head “yes Daddy, he still there, right there on the bed” Daddy gives me a hard look. “I done told you about him and you ain’t believe me. You do yourself a favor and leave him be. Let him go away on his own. He ain’t never cared for you. Like I said, if you was in switched positions, you’d already be a bone puddle somewhere out in the wilds with things gnawing on you some.”