Joy Williams: Breaking and Entering

“Why, well, for the telephone lines to go through,” Duane said. “We make a nice round circle right in the middle of the crown of the tree so the lines can go through. We got to keep them lines of communication open for people.” He chuckled as though making a joke. “But this one won’t get carved. We’re outside the city limits here.”

Liberty and Clem got out.

“I bet you don’t have a single drain that ain’t stopped up in that house,” he said. “Cut that sucker down and you’d have firewood forever.”

“It never really gets cold here, Duane,” Liberty said.

“That’s what I’m saying. Wood enough for five, six years.” Duane winked at Liberty, made two tight noisy circles in the street and sped away.

“Hello the tree,” Liberty called. She would usually say this upon returning to the house. It did no harm to keep in touch with the vegetable world.

“Hello, hello. Where have you been?”

“Teddy?” Liberty said, startled. Deep inside the banyan it still dripped rain. A curtain of rodlike aerial roots parted and Teddy scrambled down the trunk.

“Daddy brought you here,” Teddy said.

“He sure did,” Liberty said. “Why aren’t you in school?”

“Something happened yesterday. I called you and called you, but you weren’t home. Sometimes when I called, this voice would say ‘What number?’ I guess it was the operator.”

“I’m sorry I wasn’t here, baby, what happened yesterday?” Life must be understood backwards , Liberty thought, or was it— Life can be understood backwards .

“It happened at school,” Teddy said. “They didn’t know what to say to us so they sent us home. We don’t have to go to school all week. Janiella’s really upset that I don’t have to go to school all week. She has all kinds of projects lined up to keep me occupied.”

Teddy tucked her hand in his and they went inside the house.

“Yesterday,” he said, “Mrs. Bates was telling us about protozoa. We have an aquarium in our room and it’s full of pond water and we were going to get to look at little drops of water under a microscope, and I hadn’t gotten my turn yet because I’m a W , so I hardly ever get my turn, but Billy Adams said it was amazing, all that stuff crawling around in a drop of water. So I was waiting for my turn and this man came in and shut the door. Everyone asks me what he looked like because he just stood back there for a minute where I was, but I don’t know what he looked like. He looked like anybody. Then he ran up to the front of the room and he grabbed Mrs. Bates. Nobody outside could see because our room doesn’t have any windows, there’s just our cubbies on the wall where a window could be. Then the man knocked Mrs. Bates down and banged her head on the floor and tore her dress, but when everyone started screaming, he ran away. I took off my jacket and covered her up with it and then I got the principal. I was the only one with a jacket. Janiella always makes me wear one.”

In the silence, Liberty could hear Clem drinking from his water bowl. One has these assumptions, Liberty thought, these foolish assumptions about life. This is the day that the Lord hath made — that sort of thing. It proceeds from sunrise to sunset. Dare, don’t adapt. Rejoice. Be truthful. Get enough rest. Take it easy on the sun and salt. Love. Reflect. Praise. Learn. As a child, Liberty had learned how to write with ascending accuracy between increasingly diminishing lines. That’s a child’s life. A child starts with intense admiration for the world. It’s him and the world. But there are too many messages. Most are worthless, but they still must be received. One must select and clarify. One must dismiss and forget. One is in a lighted room, then it turns dim. Inexplicably. One’s intense attachment turns to fear, then hate, then guilt. Finally, sorrow.

“Oh baby,” Liberty said.

“Do you know what they say? They say that that man used to be Mrs. Bates’ boyfriend. Do you have any paper? I have my colored pens. I want to make her a get-well card.”

Mrs. Bates had no husband, Teddy explained. Her husband was in New Zealand making hang-gliders. Teddy sat on the couch, a telephone book upon his knees, supporting the frail paper upon which he drew. He drew a plane descending upon a beautiful green and purple island in a blue sea. The island wore palm trees and waving, smiling children. Please get well Mrs. Bates , the plane’s wings said. It was a drawing of such earnest innocence and grubby grace that Liberty knew it would pluck Mrs. Bates from the plain of depressing twilight from which she was struggling to arise and shove her right back into the valley of bleakest night.

“Tonight’s Halloween, you haven’t forgotten, have you, Liberty? You said we’d all go out. I’m going to go as a doctor. My daddy and Janiella are going to give a party so I have to be out for a long time.”

“Okay, baby,” Liberty said. “We’ll have fun. I’ll see you tonight. Come over before it gets dark.”

“I love you,” Teddy said. He watches her, he opens his arms.

“I love you too,” Liberty said and hugged him. It’s timing. He always says it first.

The phone was ringing. Someone muttered something.

“What are you saying?” Liberty asked. “Who are you calling?”

“Number seventeen,” a voice said. It was a man’s voice. He sounded old and nervous, even on the verge of tears.

“I believe you have the wrong number,” Liberty said.

There was a strangled cry, then a click. She put the phone down and sat upon the sofa. Fallen between the cushions was a folded piece of mimeographed paper from the school that Teddy had left behind. GENERAL INFORMATION FOR PARENTS the paper said.

Drugs are being sold to schoolchildren in the form of brightly colored paper tabs. They resemble postage stamps in size and have pictures of Superman, Dopey and Mickey Mouse upon them. A young child could have a dangerous reaction to these “uppers” and “downers” by licking these tabs. Absortion can also occur through the skin by simply handling the paper. Alert your children.

The principal had misspelled absorption. The school had faulty wiring, daily tornado drills, and nervous German shepherds with names like Kong and Goforit prowling the corridors seeking illegal substances. They had banned The Little Lame Prince from the library, had a nurse who spanked children in the infirmary, and had turned off the drinking fountains because there was saltwater infusion in the wells. A teacher had just been attacked in a room where children were dutifully growing radishes in egg cartons and making cameras out of Quaker Oats boxes. There wasn’t time for spelling.

Liberty went into the bathroom where she turned the water on in the shower. She undressed and stood in the small stall beneath the spray until the hot water ran out. She turned off the water and stared uneasily at the shower curtain, which portrayed soiled palm trees staggered in rows.

“Hi,” Willie said. He pushed the curtain back. His lean jaws moved tightly, chewing gum. Willie made chewing gum look like one of the great pleasures of being a human being. He was wearing faded blue jeans and a snug, faded polo shirt. His eyes were a faded blue. Liberty felt that they passed over her lightly. Communication had indeed broken down considerably. Signals were intermittent and could easily be misread.

“Why are you standing in there?” he asked.

“I was just getting out.”

“I was in a house,” Willie said, “and in a shower pretty much like this one there was …”

Liberty raised a finger to her lips wanting to hush him. She felt awkward being naked in front of this man. This was her husband. She had known him for long years and was indeed closer to him than to her own self. She shivered.