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Esther and Sidney Overstreet resided on Broussard Street, an old neighborhood lined on both sides of the streets with giant, mature trees of all kinds. The houses in this lower middle class neighborhood were well past their prime, and showed the subtle blight of urban decay. Once, these two-story monoliths stood tall as proud examples of America's broad shoulders. Now, they gave testament only to her broad, fat ass. Very few of the houses had seen fresh paint within the past decade, and the lawns and trees mirrored the mood of the area- weedy and unkempt. Trees, untrimmed and overgrown, split in many places from the early spring freeze/thaw and frequent summer lightning storms, left huge limbs resting on roofs and strewn in yards; removed only if they threatened electrical service or egress. Most of the homeowners in the area looked upon the stately oaks and elms as little more than a giant pain-in-the-ass.
Sidney revered his trees, often spending hours watching them sway in the wind, wishing he could see what they’d seen, feel what they felt. Trees, noble without being arrogant, wise without being pompous, and virtuous without being haughty, became a symbol to him. He loved them like little else. Perched high on one or another outstretched limb, invisible to the world, Sidney spent much of his early childhood dreaming of worlds outside his grasp.
His cardboard ray guns blasted neighborhood intruders who dared pass his way- dogs and cats, mostly- but also the hundreds of squirrels and birds that completed the cast in his never-closing array of dramas and comedies. All animals were actors, he surmised, the reality of life seemed to escape them. None of them were injured and nothing ever died. Cats chased squirrels, dogs chased cats, and the stunts were spectacular sometimes; but at day’s end, the entire cast was unharmed. That is, until humans were factored into the equation.
The introduction of the human element changed all the values Sidney assigned to the unknowns in his life. A predictable constant was associated with each value within a given set of parameters. He subconsciously graphed the mathematical association of the participants again and again, and the results rarely varied from a foreseen set of limits.
However, when the human unknown factored in, anything could happen, usually to the detriment of all. People could divide and subtract with much more ease than they added. But, at the root of all the trouble was multiplication. If man saw a chance to multiply, he would gladly subtract anything getting in his way. Sidney saw this one fact as immutable and irreversible.
*****
Esther picked up her plate and walked over to the sink. Sidney sat at the supper table picking at his food, as was his tendency.
"Sidney, won't you please try to eat something? Honey, I'm worried about you. You've become so withdrawn... can I do anything to help? Please talk to me." Esther put her hand on her son’s shoulder and rubbed the back of his neck.
Sidney looked back over his shoulder at his mother and asked, "Will you be late coming home tonight?"
"It'll probably be close to eleven before I get home. Why, Sidney? You know that tonight is Catechism... Father Tom won't finish up until ten or ten-thirty, and I have to clean up after, just like every Wednesday night… Do you need something, baby? Would you like me to bring you home a Baskin-Robbins?"
"Mom, are you sleeping with Father Tom?"
The crash of dishes falling on the floor broke the still of the evening. Esther fought to keep her composure as tears welled up in the corners of her eyes. Fists clenched at her side, she stared at her son. “W-what did you s-say?"
Not waiting for an answer, Esther covered the short distance between them and wrapped her hand tightly around his arm before he could move. "WHAT DID YOU SAY?"
Grasping him by the shoulders, she shook him violently before she caught herself and released him. Sidney ran his fingers through his hair without looking up, his gaze fixed on the tile floor.
"That is the most vile thing anyone has ever said to me, Sidney. The man is a priest, for God's sake! What did I ever do to make you think so little of me?" Tears flowing freely now she looked away, no longer able to make eye contact with him.
Sidney scooted his chair back from the table, gave his mother a quick glance, stood up and walked out of the room, leaving her question unanswered.
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