The Jingoist

Brick 213 - The letter

It rained the day the letter came.  A dreary overhanging kind of drizzle that despite its appearance, somehow managed to create a pitter patter on the window.  

Floydd slept shallowly at his desk as the teacher passed by, picking up each child's test.  She said nothing as she retrieved Floydd's blank test from under the sleeping boy's arms; she'd given up on him many months ago. 

Awakened by the movement, bleary blue eyes stared up at her, blank, sleepy.  She looked away in disgust, apathy was the only message registered through those blue orbs.  

The bell rang from the crackly loudspeaker and the children shuffled along, struggling to shove stubby arms into the stiff sleeves of their rainjackets.  The boy got up too, blending in with the crowd, yet apart from it.  Even when he talked to these companions, he seemed detached, far away, preoccuppied with other thoughts.  The moisture on the windows cast bluish shadows on his pale skin, his long eyelashes contrasting against white cheeks as he walked eyes down among his friends.  The woman shivered despite the warmth of her green cardigan, fluffing her curled blond hair nervously.  She wasn't sure how the boy had any friends; just looking at him made her feel sad.  

The walk home from school was a pleasant one for Floydd as he seperated from his two friends at the end of the parking lot.  Almost all the children rode the bus, but Floydd lived close enough to make it home by himself.  He'd never been driven home, his brother's soccer practice ended two hours after school, so thats when his parents would drop by the school.  And although his brother had been out of the house for some time now, picking him up seperately wasn't worth it to them.  

Floydd smiled, lips closed, as he made his way down the damp avenue, dull yellow umbrella in hand.  He span the handle, shaped like a duck as he walked, the other hand skimming the rusty chain link fence at his side.  Beyond the fence, more concrete, an industrial area and to the other side, apartments, silent in the rain.  He breathed in deeply, enjoying the smell of those heavenly tears, caught in the moment, and in that brief point in time, one could have sworn there was a spark of some kind of emotion in those eyes.  It was perhaps a peculiar sort of emotion, halfway between elation and longing, and then it was gone, extinguished by reality.

A wet mass of fur squealed, insulted at his feet to call him back from his thoughts.  He hadn't meant to step on it, but it was hard to pay attention to small things at your feet when you walked in a complete daze.  He tapped it once more, this time purposely, with the toe of his faded black loafer and it squeaked again.  Bending down, Floydd identified the ball of fur as a mouse, its back leg was injured and bleeding, possibly broken.  Taking care not to be bitten or to offend the creature's delicate leg, Floydd placed the mouse in his huge coat pocket, where it made a strange looking lump within the folds of his clothing.  Gingerly he petted the thing, feeling its warmth against the coldness of the air.  He walked slowly, careful not to jostle the mouse, his blank eyes focusing on the road in front of him.

Floydd's house was identical to all the others on his street, a peach colored stucco two-story with a red roof and a brick chimney. Floydd grabbed the mail from the white mailbox with his family's last name "Waters" printed on the side in black Times New Roman lettering, before entering through the front door.  Scuffing his wet feet on the burgundy carpet and glancing at the mail, Floydd smiled, seeing a letter from Lambryd Academy.  The family would eat together tonight. 

Floydd's brother attended the incredibly prestigious and far away Lambryd Academy so Floydd's mother always found it necessary to go out and eat in honor of his brother's success each time he sent a letter.  

"Father!" Floydd called down the hall with the yellow-brown patterned carpet before entering into his father's study.  The lank, unhealthy looking man sat at his oversized desk as always. He was an accountant for a number of important people and usually worked at home. 

"Why are you still wearing your rainjacket Floydd?" the man asked in a voice that was almost a sigh, still looking down at the documents in his hand.  

Floydd paused before reaching into his pocket and displaying the small bundle of filth to his father. " I found it in the rain. It was crying."  

"Get that piece of shit out of here! What are you thinking bringing that diseased thing into the house?" Floydd's father's voice was booming now, louder than you would expect from such a unsubstantial man. 

"But- Tommy sent a letter." 

"Well give it to me and throw that disgusting thing out the window!" Floydd's father's face was visibly stressed, his forehead wrinkles very prominent and his thin lips pulled back over his teeth in a scowl.  

"Yes sir" Floydd handed him the letter but placed the mouse back into his jacket pocket.  

"Jesus Floydd, get out of here, I'm already stressed out as it is!" Floydd's father snatched the envelope and threw up his hands before scooting back in his chair to make room to open the drawer and look for a letter opener.

Floydd retreated quickly through the door stroking the mouse's shivering body, slightly perplexed.  He wasn't sure why his father always put the word "jesus" infront of his name. His brother had never been given any "jesus"es, only "good job sonny"s and "how's it doing slugger"s.  However, whatever a "jesus" was, he was sure it wasn't anything any good.

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Something I wrote in highschool that I'm just going to get out there so I can be free from it.

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