At the Zoo
The Audubon Zoo. It was heaven to me. Not just the animals, either. I loved to beat Aunt Bertie off the streetcar and run as fast as I could through the grass. Under the big oak trees.
It was our secret, my running. Mommy didn’t like for me to run. “Men do not like ladies who are improper at the wrong moments.“ I asked her once when it was the right moment for a girl to be improper. She slapped me and sent me up to my room without supper.
So, I still didn’t know.
Aunt Bertie turned me loose, said “what Nadine don’t know, won’t hurt her.” She always let me run wild at the zoo. Sometimes, we’d lie in the grass side-by-side, me in my fancy dress. We’d look at the sky through the tree branches and listen to the birds.
It was all fine until the day I fell. I climbed up the fence at the Louisiana bear pen, but I somehow messed up my footing. A ruffle from my dress caught in the fence and ripped. Aunt Bertie bent over me, lying there in the dirt. “You done gone and got yourself in a fix now, girl. Nadine is gonna beat your behind but good.”
The thought of one of Mommy’s beatings made me want to cry, and I hated to be a baby. “You gotta help me. You just gotta. Sneak me back into the house and help me change clothes before she sees me.”
“Ain’t gonna fix that dress.”
I stuck my fingers through the hole. “Can you make it like new?“
She pulled me to my feet and kissed the top of my head. “Child, I’d make the whole world over for you if I could. I’ll see what I can do with it when we get home. Now, come on. Race me to that tree yonder. Might as well make the best of the worst situation while we can.”
I grabbed her hand, threw out my arms, and ran. Maybe someday, I would run away from Mommy, go hide someplace she’d never look.
I already knew where.
Welcome to Mommy Dearest, a series of fiction. If this is your first visit to the series, please click here to read the first installment. Thanks for your feedback on fiction posts. Your thoughts will help me make a believable character.
Very spooky. I don’t think this is going to have a happy ending:)
We shall see.
It better have a happy ending… that’s all I’m going to say.
Trouble’s a brewing.
Can’t have a story without conflict. So they tell me.
Everyone, everyone should have an Aunt Bertie like this one. I want to put my arms around her thick middle (why do I think she has a thick middle) and give her a big squeeze. She represents freedom to me. I just want to stay in this spot with Penelope and Aunt Bertie for a few more hours.
Bertie does have a thick middle.
I love the tension as she gets herself into a situation where she’s inevitably going to screw up. Two places where you broke out of the kid voice:
“It was heaven to me” – that’s an adult voice. A kid would be more like “Aunt Bertie said it was like a little slice of heaven on a moon pie”
and
“The thought of one of Mommy’s beatings”. I think it might work better to make a specific association. “I rubbed my bottom. It was still sore because Mommy got mad at me for playing around in her make-up.”
Aaaand, MTM found these in spam. Thank you for giving me pointers. I need them. One of the biggest reasons I’m doing this.
Hmmmm? I want to know more about Aunt Bertie. Is she really Penelope’s aunt? I like the way you leave us hanging on this, Andra. Well, not really. I want to know where Penelope will run to and how Aunt Bertie will resolve this.
Stay tuned…….
I love the relationship here. Every child needs an Aunt Bertie, and Penelope certainly does! D
In the end, though, aunts can only do so much to protect children from their bad mothers……..
Sadly so very true!
Well, I’m pulling for Bertie. Not that that matters, but we’ll see what happens.
Fantastic writing, Andra. I love the relationship between the little girl and her aunt.
That mother’s fearsome. I don’t like the thought of the little one running away, though. Scary stuff.
We will have to see how things unfold, Kate. Aunts may only be able to do so much.
Aunt Bertie rocks!
She does. For the most part.
It’s a little troubling someone so young thinking about running away… I’m hoping that some kind of ‘balance’ will be brought in to the situation… Aunt inspired balance perhaps? I’ll wait patiently for the next part!
I hope Aunt Bertie has that kind of power, Tom. We will see.
Loved this — wanted to keep reading!
Tomorrow. More.
Aunt Bertie. Exactly right.
I am glad she has somebody, at least.
Good story. Good voices.
I ran away once–when I was less than 6 years old. I got mad at my Mama. I packed my clothes in my doll’s suitcase, threw in a can of Campbells Tomato Soup and took off–for the corner. Where I plopped down in defeat at the realization that I’d forgotten a can opener. Never mind that I didn’t really know how to work one well then.
So, I went back home.
I love the image of you and that tomato soup on the street corner, Cheryl. I think almost every child thinks about running away at least once. I know I did. Few actually follow through, though.
It is an all American scene. Andy Warhol soup cans and Raggedy Ann on the street corner. Now there’s a screen print waiting to happen.
Now this one *does* remind me of my actual childhood. Boy, I looooved the zoo.
Will we see her grown up at the end of the series? I’d like to know what becomes of her.
I’ve never been to the Audubon Zoo. If it were relevant, I’d head over there today.