Of Muggy Mornings & Peppermint Tea
Saturday, August 13, 2005
It was Mercy’s 21st birthday and Collette hoped that the day would go well for her, despite everything. Perhaps the family would get together and have a small celebration, everyone: Mr. and Mrs. Pretzel, Shepherd and Malaya, Peter and his girl, Mercy and her man… just a good time together, like the good old days…
Outside that morning, Linnea biked one hundred laps down the driveway past the McCune’s old house and back again, while Francis shot his airsoft gun, Dad mowed the lawn, and Mom painted windows up at the church. Carrie prepared to leave for work early, as Elizabeth was having her tattoo written – “abstract” – in Hebrew cursive on her arm, having changed her mind again. And Collette sat on the porch a spell reading Pride & Prejudice while her throat ached terribly from something or other.
The thick smell of freshly cut wet sweet grass and the autumn smoke of the neighbor’s bonfire added to the heaviness of the humid air. But Dad soon had her get a cup of hot peppermint tea which greatly relieved the ache. And the afternoon continued quite warm and yet pleasantly cool indoors while Carrie shoveled out some tunes on her cello, getting back into the habit, and the kids finished watching Dad’s selections from Blockbuster.
They were in for a killer afternoon in the heat.