1. Pretty Mama


    Date: 8/25/2015, Categories: Love Stories, Author: Frank_Lee, Rating: 6, Source: LushStories

    weren’t going to give him enough time to think of a good one. The woman who’d spoken was already dialing the number on her cell phone. She rolled her eyes when she was put through to voice mail. Both of the mothers hustled their daughters out of the apartment like the place was on fire. Jim was committed, and he didn’t have a clue for how long. He looked around the small kitchen and living room. There were no pictures on the walls as he’d thought. No books, not even cookbooks, except for the one he’d given Jessica. The girl was still sitting on the floor, playing and talking as if the other two were still there. Half the cake had been cut and eaten. It was a store-bought cake, but it still looked pretty good. There were dishes covered with chocolate crumbs and traces of vanilla ice cream. He picked up the dishes and put them in the sink. Jessica got up and stood in the kitchen doorway. “Wanna have some cake and ice cream?” “Didn’t you have some already?” “Yup. Sure.” “Are you supposed to have more? I wouldn’t want you to get sick.” “Yeah, but it’s my birthday.” “Special dispensation, huh?” She tilted her head and looked at him curiously, as if pretending she understood what he said. Then she giggled just like she had when he said fuck under his car that afternoon. He finally found a pair of clean dishes and cut two more pieces of cake. He made hers a small one. He found the ice cream, too. Then they sat at the small kitchen table and ate. Jim felt like he should say ...
    something, but he didn’t know what. Making conversation with a six year old wasn’t something he did very much. Fortunately, the kid was still a long way from learning how to feel awkward over gaps in a conversation. “How about if we read your book?” he suggested after they ate up their cake. Jessica’s face suddenly grew bright. “Yeah!” They went to the living room and sat on the worn little couch so Jim could read and Jessica could follow the pictures. She was more interested in the pictures than the story, but she was quiet while he read, as if the sound of his voice were a good thing. When he got to the end of the book, Jessica smiled and asked him to read it again. He read through it two more times. It was dark outside, and Jessica’s eyes were beginning to droop with sleepiness. Jim got up so she could stretch out on the couch and sleep. It was a warm night, so he opened the apartment door and put one of the kitchen chairs just outside. He sat and waited. Long enough to start feeling angry. He wondered if Jessica’s mother had even heard the message their neighbor had left. After a while, he got up and went inside. Jess was still sleeping soundly on the couch. The anger subsided, but he still felt profoundly off center. A couple of hours passed, and Jim was still sitting in front of the apartment door when her car squealed into the development parking lot. He lifted his hand to shade his eyes from the headlights as the car stopped a few feet in front of him. The lights shut off, and ...
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