Violence

a tape plays in the background. a woman moans throughout the playback, a man grunts; they both whisper obscenities. ashley sits in his bedroom. his fingers are thin and wrap around the glass jar of milk. his lips, cherry-red and delicate, sip through a striped straw. his eyes; his eyes are green like weeds with dearly large pupils to watch them with. them: a mother dress and undress as she obsesses over her ass; a man have illicit sex while his children are out; clyde undress. them. ashley watches clyde now. he is his most favorite; every wednesday at night between nine and one.

his nana knocks on his door. "ashley? what's that noise?"
sex, ashley thinks and sets his glass on the night stand.
"ashley?" she asks. she jiggles the doorknob.
he turns his tape off and shuts the blinds.
"ashley, i do have a key to this door, you know."
ashley opens the door. he yawns. "i'm very sorry, nana."
she nods and steps into the bedroom. "your mother called. she's on the line and dinner is ready," she says.
"okay."

ashey leaves the bedroom. his nana searches for something, anything while ashley walks into the kitchen and picks up the phone.

"hello."
"oh, ashley," his mother's smile is leaking through the phone. "i miss you so much. i think i'll be able to visit soon."
"really?" ashley says but he's not listening. his eyes are on the marble floor beneath his feet. he likes the piercing chill beneath his feet.
"your father is going on a trip; a business trip. and ashley, ashley, i've been talking to him. he says he'll let you come back."
"really?"
"yes! all you have to do is apologize."
"alright," ashley says. "i have to go now. nana wants me to eat before the food gets chilled."

the phone clicks onto the receiver. the food is on the table. he doesn't know what it is but it has brown and green tones. also a bit lumpy. nana walks into the kitchen and bumps his shoulder.

"are you eating tonight?" she asks.
"no. i ate in my bedroom. jellied toast, you know."
she sits down at the table. "will you stay with me, then? i hardly ever see you."
"alright."

he does. he sits down at the table and his nails dig into the knitted table covering. nana starts to eat.

"you'll be going to college next year," she says.
ashley's fingers claw to the bottom of his eyes.
"how about you take a year off before you go?"
ashley's head rolls back to face the ceiling. "why?"
"well," his nana smiles and sits her fork down. "i want to go to ecuador with you."
"what's in ecuador?"
she pauses. "llamas."
"okay."

they don't talk anymore. ashley stands up. he kisses his nana and goes to his bedroom. the door clicks lightly behind him. ashley walks to his desk. his fingers scale the wood before his fingers tip to the drawer. ashley lifts out the black book. his nails tap the cover and his eyes watch the window; clyde.

"i love you," ashley mouths.

the light in clyde's bedroom shuts off and ashley sits the book on top of his desk.

"until tomorrow."