“That’s good. My life is surrounded by dead people, you don’t even know.”
He puts his hand on my shoulder and leaves. I turn down the television, go to Sylvia’s bedside, kiss her, hug her and tuck her in.
I wonder what Abby would’ve done.
I stay with Sylvia throughout the night. There’s the smell of regurgitation in the room. Sylvia breathes shallowly and comments on the present with her sour, comatose expressions.
This is more than sleep. This is her escape, this is running from the whole ancestral clan’s history, misdeeds and the mind; this is her retreat from the trailer-chic of our lives.
I burp and get the taste of ham in my mouth. I haven’t eaten anything in hours. The evening has grown strong. The moon’s out tonight and there may secretly be astronauts plundering the dusts of o
