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Show page 172 Help old Annie, Ben; help old Annie before she d i e s ." She drank again from her b o t t l e , then staggered to her bedroom, seeking a one-eyed teddy bear. The c h i l d ' s toy slept warmly between stacks of b l a n k e t s , i t s button nose n e s t l i ng against one of W i l l ' s old s u i t s . Annie pulled i t f i e r c e l y from the c l o s e t. She held the long-forgotten toy t o her f l a t b r e a s t , swayed with i t , brought i t up under her chin in t e r r i b l e possessiveness, She crooned an ancient song, "Going to t e l l Aunt S a l l y , going t o t e l l Aunt S a l l y , going to t e l l Aunt S a l l y , the old gray goose i s dead, t h e one s h e ' s been saving, the one s h e ' s been saving, t h e one s h e ' s been saving, to make a f e a t h e r bed," f i t t e d the teddy bear i n t o t h e crotch of her l e g s , groaned t o the rhythm of b i r t h p a i n. "Now B i l l y , don't you go near those prison w a l l s , you stay r i g h t here in t h e yard." Mama, how come I have no daddy? A man asked me. L i t t l e boy, whose daddy are you? Whose daddy am I, Mama? And of course her husband's hands explored her body again, in her a l c o h o l i c r e s u r r e c t i o n of him. "He grew, Will, j u s t like the melons are growing. But he died before he was r i p e , l i k e those scamps'11 t a k e our melons." Mama, I 'm somewhere l o s t , never coming home because I c a n 't find my l e g s , because I have nothing to look for them w i t h ." "Oh, son, how much gin w i l l ten thousand d o l l a r s buy?" Annie took the teddy bear to the kitchen and stuffed it h e a d f i r s t in t h e garbage p a i l , at the same moment t h a t Holder |
