HUMBLE ME, A Novel Raymonds side: My father hated my mothers first husband so fiercely, I think he killed him. In fact, I know he did. The worst part of that sad story is that I think my mother had something to do with it too. No one has ever talked about it before now, at least not in front of me. I was raised during a time when children were expected to be seen and not heard. Growing up I could stop a lively conversations dead in its tracks simply by entering the room. I became suspicious early in my life and taught myself to creep by doorways and stand quietly by an open window in an attempt to hear bits of the family gossip. Raymond! Is that you? Come here boy! I see you there. My mother would call to me when she suspected I was listening nearby. It always seemed to me that she was trying to hide something. Little did I know then how true this was, until now. I was born five months after my mother had left her first husband to be with my father. Raymond Sr., my Pops sat out in the parking lot smoking his Marlboros and drinking from a can of warm, flat beer as I came quietly into the world. A nurse had been sent out to the waiting room to find him and tell him the news, but he was long gone by then. My mothers first husband was named Louis James Bouchard but everyone called him Lucky. I dont remember him, I was too young, I guess. I remember sneaking looks at a photo of him my mother kept in her bottom drawer, under a pile of old sweaters. She never knew I did this. I was always careful to put it back just as she had left it. In the old black and white photo Lucky was tall, thin, and had the biggest, happiest smile I had ever seen, at least it seemed like that to me. It made me happy to look at the image of him in his white sailor uniform with his arm wrapped around my mom who seemed to be glowing from within. Her head was thrown back and her mouth was open as if someone had captured her during the funniest joke she’d ever heard. They looked as if they were in love. April 4, 1963 was the date written on the back.
Posted on: Sat, 02 Aug 2014 16:24:33 +0000
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