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Show Things to Remember I 36 5. One day. Geoffrey and his mother went to the barber shop. His baby black down had disappeared, his hair had grown in. Light taffy, too long hair. "You are a big boy, going to the barber shop," she said. A primitive pride thrummed inside as Susan watched him s i t t i ng small in the booster chair. The barber chatted away, reminding Geoffrey to keep his head s t i l l . An impossibility for a 14-month old. The barber knicked his ear and asked them not to come back. "Why didn't I know about this?" Susan cried. "Why didn't someone t e l l me beforehand and I could have done something about i t . Maybe Dave and I didn't have sex often enough because he was always studying for law school and the semen went stale. Maybe the baby's blood was being formed on the day I grabbed hold of the wired overhead lampshade while standing pregnant in bathwater. Maybe I didn't get enough iron when I was a kid. I always was sort of anemic. I might even be related to Queen Victoria. "You know, I did everything everybody said so that things would be all right. I obeyed God, teachers and my parents (though I lied sometimes and didn't always honor my father and mother). I even saved myself for the bridal bed, all for my family to be. I was a good g i r l . Somebody promised me that i f I was a good g i r l , I would be blessed and have joy in my posterity. Liars." |
