Just Another Memory
Dust and heat in a white sky. I’m young. Barefoot. Shirtless. Next door, an empty house. Yellow grass and packed dirt. A stone chimney leans into one side. No one sees the rock come loose until it’s too late. It lands square on my head.
I can’t see right. My legs won’t work. My head wobbles on my neck. My skin is too thick to move.
Doctors say my skull’s fractured. Ear to ear. There’s nothing they can do.
Mom sits in the chair by the window. Sometimes she sleeps. Sometimes she goes out for a cigarette. Sometimes she just holds my hand and waits.
You’ll get better.
I’m not sure I believe her.