Times were tough back home after Eldon got discharged from the Navy, so he moved Lorraine and their young baby Jeannie into a small apartment over a muffler shop in a part of the city that still had some rough edges to it.
Rent was cheap, but the apartment was drafty, and the old pipes in the wafer-thin walls groaned when the toilet flushed or they kept the kitchen spigot open for a time.
Eldon and Lorraine had to dust constantly too. The furniture, clothes, dishes, and even the baby’s toys were always covered by a thin layer of grit from the muffler shop below. The apartment and shop shared the same clunky heater.
When winter set in, Jeannie caught the croup. The woman spent the night with the baby in her arms walking around the small apartment. She gave Jeannie steam baths and patted her on the back, thinking it would help.
Eldon took over Jeannie’s care when he got home from his graveyard shift. He rocked their child so that the mother could get some rest. The three of them finally dozed off around dawn.
The child’s barking cough woke them early that morning. They decided to take the child to the emergency room at a charity hospital because she had developed a fever. He was working, but money was still tight for them. He wrapped the ill child in a small blanket and strapped her in the car seat.
The muffler shop was located on a one-way street in a mixed-use neighborhood. He pulled the car out of the back lot and headed north, but the road was blocked off. A small group of people was standing at the end of the block near an intersection. Lorraine pointed and shook her head.
“Why’s that lady still in her housecoat and slippers?”
Eldon killed engine, stepped out of the car and walked over the group. He wanted to tell them to get out of the way. There was an older couple he knew from the neighborhood among them. The man spoke with a stutter after his recent nervous breakdown. His wife was the woman in the nightclothes. She held the leash to a small yelping dog. He didn’t know the other people in the group.
“Is everything all right? Did someone get hit by a car?” Eldon asked.
The man with the stutter tried to answer, but his tongue clicked against the back of his teeth. His wife patted his hand.
“It’s okay, dear,” she said.
She pointed across the road.
“That baby raccoon looks sick," she said.
The raccoon - a yearling - was on someone's front lawn on its hind-legs, observing the group of people. The raccoon wobbled and leaned on its two front paws. It looked disoriented.
“Is it rabid? I mean raccoons only come out at night, right?” Eldon asked.
“Did-dis-dis...” the nervous man stuttered.
“He’s trying to say distemper,” the man’s wife said.
Eldon realized she was smoking. He saw red lipstick streaks on her yellow teeth.
“We read in the paper that there is a bad outbreak of it going around,” she said.
A woman from across the street opened her storm door and stuck her head out. She cupped her hand around her mouth.
“I called animal control, they’re sending someone.”
“Thanks, Linda,” the woman said.
The little dog was growling and snapping at the raccoon now, but the yearling did not react to the threat. It simply scratched its chin with its little paw from its spot on the grass.
If the raccoon was sick with distemper, Eldon knew the county would put it down. The raccoon could not go back into the wild. Eldon felt bad for the yearling. He figured everyone else in the group did too. They were quiet when the animal suddenly shook.
“Be-be-be-t-t-t-ter...” the man spat.
He must have read the expression on Eldon's face.
“Yes dear, you are right. It will be better for the little thing,” his wife said.
Eldon still had his sick child in the car. He turned to leave when he saw his wife with his daughter approaching the group. Lorraine looked peeved.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“What’s all this business about, Eldon? We need to go?” Lorraine said.
Then she saw the sick animal across the road and frowned.
“Oh goodness,” Lorraine said lowly.
The sick child raised her head from her mother’s shoulder. She saw the animal and smiled. Eldon motioned for them to leave. He looked over his shoulder at the raccoon as they walked to the car. The animal's eyes followed him to the car.
His little girl pointed at the yearling.
“Kitty cat,” she said with a high-pitched giggle. “Bye bye kitty kitty.”
At the hospital, a nurse put an oxygen mask with a nebulizer on the little girl’s mouth. The breathing treatment worked, and the raw coughing stopped. Jeannie fell asleep in the ER bay.
Eldon whispered to Lorraine that he was going to step outside for a smoke. He found the smoking area near the hospital garage next to a sand bucket. When he lit his cigarette, the first snowfall of the season began to drift down from the evening sky. The lamplight clicked on, and the illumination made the snow sparkle like diamond flakes.
At one time as a child, he would have thought it was beautiful, seeing the thin dusting of snow twinkle like that on the grass and sidewalk. Now he wanted to show Jeannie the snowflakes and let her touch them, but he couldn’t get his mind off that sick animal and what his daughter said when she saw the raccoon. They were her first words.
Rent was cheap, but the apartment was drafty, and the old pipes in the wafer-thin walls groaned when the toilet flushed or they kept the kitchen spigot open for a time.
Eldon and Lorraine had to dust constantly too. The furniture, clothes, dishes, and even the baby’s toys were always covered by a thin layer of grit from the muffler shop below. The apartment and shop shared the same clunky heater.
When winter set in, Jeannie caught the croup. The woman spent the night with the baby in her arms walking around the small apartment. She gave Jeannie steam baths and patted her on the back, thinking it would help.
Eldon took over Jeannie’s care when he got home from his graveyard shift. He rocked their child so that the mother could get some rest. The three of them finally dozed off around dawn.
The child’s barking cough woke them early that morning. They decided to take the child to the emergency room at a charity hospital because she had developed a fever. He was working, but money was still tight for them. He wrapped the ill child in a small blanket and strapped her in the car seat.
The muffler shop was located on a one-way street in a mixed-use neighborhood. He pulled the car out of the back lot and headed north, but the road was blocked off. A small group of people was standing at the end of the block near an intersection. Lorraine pointed and shook her head.
“Why’s that lady still in her housecoat and slippers?”
Eldon killed engine, stepped out of the car and walked over the group. He wanted to tell them to get out of the way. There was an older couple he knew from the neighborhood among them. The man spoke with a stutter after his recent nervous breakdown. His wife was the woman in the nightclothes. She held the leash to a small yelping dog. He didn’t know the other people in the group.
“Is everything all right? Did someone get hit by a car?” Eldon asked.
The man with the stutter tried to answer, but his tongue clicked against the back of his teeth. His wife patted his hand.
“It’s okay, dear,” she said.
She pointed across the road.
“That baby raccoon looks sick," she said.
The raccoon - a yearling - was on someone's front lawn on its hind-legs, observing the group of people. The raccoon wobbled and leaned on its two front paws. It looked disoriented.
“Is it rabid? I mean raccoons only come out at night, right?” Eldon asked.
“Did-dis-dis...” the nervous man stuttered.
“He’s trying to say distemper,” the man’s wife said.
Eldon realized she was smoking. He saw red lipstick streaks on her yellow teeth.
“We read in the paper that there is a bad outbreak of it going around,” she said.
A woman from across the street opened her storm door and stuck her head out. She cupped her hand around her mouth.
“I called animal control, they’re sending someone.”
“Thanks, Linda,” the woman said.
The little dog was growling and snapping at the raccoon now, but the yearling did not react to the threat. It simply scratched its chin with its little paw from its spot on the grass.
If the raccoon was sick with distemper, Eldon knew the county would put it down. The raccoon could not go back into the wild. Eldon felt bad for the yearling. He figured everyone else in the group did too. They were quiet when the animal suddenly shook.
“Be-be-be-t-t-t-ter...” the man spat.
He must have read the expression on Eldon's face.
“Yes dear, you are right. It will be better for the little thing,” his wife said.
Eldon still had his sick child in the car. He turned to leave when he saw his wife with his daughter approaching the group. Lorraine looked peeved.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“What’s all this business about, Eldon? We need to go?” Lorraine said.
Then she saw the sick animal across the road and frowned.
“Oh goodness,” Lorraine said lowly.
The sick child raised her head from her mother’s shoulder. She saw the animal and smiled. Eldon motioned for them to leave. He looked over his shoulder at the raccoon as they walked to the car. The animal's eyes followed him to the car.
His little girl pointed at the yearling.
“Kitty cat,” she said with a high-pitched giggle. “Bye bye kitty kitty.”
At the hospital, a nurse put an oxygen mask with a nebulizer on the little girl’s mouth. The breathing treatment worked, and the raw coughing stopped. Jeannie fell asleep in the ER bay.
Eldon whispered to Lorraine that he was going to step outside for a smoke. He found the smoking area near the hospital garage next to a sand bucket. When he lit his cigarette, the first snowfall of the season began to drift down from the evening sky. The lamplight clicked on, and the illumination made the snow sparkle like diamond flakes.
At one time as a child, he would have thought it was beautiful, seeing the thin dusting of snow twinkle like that on the grass and sidewalk. Now he wanted to show Jeannie the snowflakes and let her touch them, but he couldn’t get his mind off that sick animal and what his daughter said when she saw the raccoon. They were her first words.