Part 25 (1/2)
Where are your clothes? she demanded crossly. she demanded crossly.
He shrugged.
I hurriedly threw on my shorts, grabbed up Noah's, and helped him dress.
Jackson remained in the water, crouching down to hide his nakedness like Adam in the Garden of Eden.
”What are y'all doing?” Mama demanded, looking at me.
”Skinny-dipping, Mama,” I said.
”Wiley, you have a child around!”
”I don't think he cares much.”
”What will people think?”
I sighed rather heavily.
We caught three fish last night, Noah signed to her. Noah signed to her.
Go play, she signed, her face full of anger. she signed, her face full of anger.
He frowned.
”I'm at my wit's end with you, Wiley,” she said, giving me a hard stare.
”It's just skinny-dipping, Mama.”
”I don't care what you do when you're by yourself, but don't involve your child in it. What's wrong with you? That man could be a pedophile!” She said this last thing very quietly.
”I doubt it.”
”I don't want you exposing my grandson to this... lifestyle lifestyle. I won't have it. And certainly not on my property. G.o.d only knows what else you're exposing my grandson to.”
”He's seen my d.i.c.k before, Mama.”
”It's a joke to you, Wiley?”
”I'm not sure it's anything more than that.”
”Have you no shame?”
”I got over it.”
”You're impossible!”
”And you're an uptight prude. But thanks for stopping by.”
”I know you and Billy used to come down here skinny-dipping when you were kids,” she said, her voice hinting there was more to the story.
”So?” I asked, taking the bait.
”Did it ever occur to you that maybe you're so screwed up now because of that?”
”I'm gay because I went skinny-dipping with Billy when we were ten years old?”
”And you saw things maybe you shouldn't have seen....”
”I saw Billy's p.e.n.i.s. Boy howdy do! Yeah, that's the reason why I'm gay. I saw my brother's little pee pee and the fire was lit.”
”That's right, make fun of me like you always do.”
”If that's true, Mama, why isn't Billy gay too? He saw my pee pee. We shared a bedroom growing up. Doesn't seem to have affected him much. Jesus, we used to take baths together!”
”Some children can handle it,” she said primly. ”Some can't. For some children, it's very damaging.”
I didn't mean to, but I laughed in her face.
”Laugh it up,” she said. ”You'll be laughing all the way to eternal h.e.l.l. But I'll be d.a.m.ned if you're going to take my grandson with you.”
”You're a trip, Mama. If you could just see how funny you are.”
”I am very very serious.” serious.”
”Oh, I know you are. That's why it's funny.”
”I am tired of you mocking our religion!”
”Is that what I'm doing?”
”Your whole life is a mockery of our religion, Wiley.”
”I should hope so,” I said seriously. ”You should live your life in a way that keeps the pope up at night, that's what I say.”
”You have not heard the end of this,” she vowed, pointing a finger into my face. ”If your father, G.o.d rest his soul, was still alive....”
”Well, thank G.o.d for small favors.”
A puff of angry air escaped her lips as she turned and marched off.
37) The story of my life
”I HOPE HOPE that doesn't become a scene in one of your books,” Jackson said, referring to my mother's visit. that doesn't become a scene in one of your books,” Jackson said, referring to my mother's visit.