Twyla

By Christopher DelMonaco

Twyla:

"I'm a basic woman livin' a basic life, but I ain't dumb.Oh, my momma is a 'whore' as my toothless gnome-lookin' daddy called her on their final day together, and he did push us off on Grannie, and Gramps because he held the taste of a woman that didn't like us, but that makes no difference to the woman that I am. No, when I fell from the family tree, I rolled away from the fruits clingin' to it. However, I clin' to that tree's roots just a bit to raise my babies because I want them to appreciate nature, and the simple thins that we hold dear. Anyway, I hope that you find these few days tellin' interestin'."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Christopher DelMonaco
• Release date: May 8, 2019
• ISBN: 9781386795605

Christopher DelMonaco

Once reading my words, you'll know me. I hope that you enjoy reading my words; I would love reading yours in review as they will guide me when writing. Thank you for reading. Best, Christopher

Book preview

Twyla

My, but the air is thick this mornin’. Why, it’s stiflin’ me somethin’ awful, and my panties are clingin’ to me as plastic wrap clins to a wet bowl. Still, I should be plannin’ somethin’ to do. Yes, I should get to paintin’ this porch that’s what should be done. Oh, it’s a crumblin’ mess: why, the chips of paint are fallin’ to my dress from the slightest shift of air. Well, I suppose that I should be happy; after all, there is a shift of air. Still, I just cannot stand to paint as I’m sweatin’ enough just sittin’ here.  

Now, there’s Miss. Baddersly: she’s a crazy old woman livin’ down the street, and she provides me a bit of entertainment always. Why, every mornin’, she rises up from that Widow’s Watch and begins castin’ seeds to those birds. Well, mostly, she has pigeons called from town to feed, but there is an occasional seagull carried upon the river’s breath. Oh, we ain’t nowhere near the ocean; still, she had that thin’ built after her husband died, and I have been supposin’ that she did because she’s been lookin’ for his spirit ever since: the poor thin’ has been mournin’ somethin’ awful for years.  

Ha, and there’s her gardener. Why, he appears always below that watch shortly after she steps out, and the birds begin swarmin’. Yes, he steps out with his hose refreshin’ the flowers borderin’ her house. Well, he’s a damn fool because he thinks that no one is watchin’ as he enhances his waterin’ with his private hose. Now, I know that you understand my meanin’, and maybe it’s wrong of me, and maybe it’s the heat, but I’m thinkin’ that little hose of his has been refreshin’ her as he seems awful attentive to satisfyin’ her needs.

Well, I have to chuckle when my mind begins spinnin’, but I cannot sit here spinnin’ and chucklin’ all day! No, I have got to get somethin’ done, so I am goin’ in to make some biscuits. Yes, I am goin’ in to make some biscuits for my breakfast in spite of the heat! Oh, my daddy made biscuits whenever he wanted somethin’ special, so I am goin’ to make biscuits to remember those days.  

~  

You know, just walkin’ in from the porch is a trial on days as this.

Now, I need Momma’s stoneware bowl. It’s funny, but little thins like that bowl can brin’ me back to sittin’ before that old farm table while watchin’ Daddy makin’ biscuit dough. It’s a sorry thin’ though because I cannot hold that innocent memory without rememberin’ the turmoil within our house: oh, what a mess was made when Momma became a whore, and stepped off with her pimp to the big city. Still, Daddy did stay with us....

My, but this heat has set my mouth to ramblin’, and I hear it releasin’ too much ugliness, so I have to put this down because this ain’t anythin’ that I was hopin’ to remember. Yes, I cannot think of that mess at this moment because the thought is as stiflin’ as the heat, and I have got to get this dough made.

~

Well, now, I could talk about my friend that I’m missin’: she’s a fine thin’ rich from the other side of town. Oh, I cannot tell you her name because she tells colorful stories that embarrass her to remainin’ anonymous. Well, you might have read somethin’ of her words because she’s been writin’ since movin’ to the big city in the north.

Now, I suppose that I could call her Tallulah when speakin’ of her. Yes, she’d like that because the tone of that word bears a bit of brashness when bein’ tossed from the tongue; it’s like that with her words also.

Oh, the breath of the icebox is wonderful, and the sight of that milk within its pitcher makes me want to slip into its creamy coolness to bathe.  

~

You know, speakin’ of brashness, Tallulah would have made a fine whore whereas Momma is a street tramp. Well, the heat has taken me again as I am not wantin’ to be talkin’ about Momma, and Tallulah is too fine a woman to be thought of in such a way. Why, she had a marvelous momma, and daddy lovin’ her while makin’ her rich, and she was good to me somethin’ awful because she felt badly for my young life bein’ deprived of pretty thins. Oh, she gave me this old dress that I’m wearin’, and she gave me many a new thin’ to wear too. Why, I have some pretty glass pearls that I wear on special days because of her. And every time when puttin’ them on, I smile thinkin’ of her kindness.

~

Now, there’s a nice sheet of biscuits. Oh, they ain’t rolled as we like them as lumps. Lordy, how, I hate bendin’ to open that oven though. Why, its iron is weepin’ heat, but I must.

Phew! I have got to get out of this kitchen because it’s hotter than the hell that I know Momma is goin’ to suffer when she’s dead if she ain’t dead already.

~

Ahh, there’s a little breeze; still, I can feel that oven blowin’ its breath through the door’s screen. Well, I guess that I have to speak of Momma and Daddy: They were standin’ at the edge of a grove of Christmas trees when they married, and I suppose that I could have appreciated the pines’ perfume risin’ from the summer’s sunlight touchin’ their needles, but I was inside of Momma. Yes, I’ve heard many a time that I was nothin’ more than a little bloat beneath her lace dress.

Well, she carried wild daisies because she loved them, and I suppose that she loved Daddy too on that day, but their marriage didn’t last but to the arrival of my sister. Now, that’s another one, but I’m too overwhelmed from the heat to start with her. Why, there