Crystal Chapter 4 / Sunday

Crystal Chapter 4

The following two nights, Crystal's dad didn't come home until after she and Amy were in bed. He left for work each morning before the girls awoke. They didn't talk about the movies or the events that followed. Instead, they played quietly outdoors until their mother called them in at night to get ready for bed. Once Amy touched her sisters shoulder, her eyes filled with unasked questions.

Amy was older than Crystal by three years, but she was small and shy. She was wise beyond her years, and knew how to be invisible in a way that Crystal did not. Though younger, Crystal was taller and stronger . She was all arms and legs, tumbling through life like a long legged puppy, always heading for disaster. Amy liked books. Crystal liked the outdoors. Most of the time, their dad ignored his studious older daughter and seemed to prefer Crystal's company when he went hunting or fishing. Crystal was never really sure which of them had the better deal. She wondered sometimes if having his love and attention was worth running into his unpredictable wrath.

Sunday morning arrived sunny and warm. The girls headed sleepily to the breakfast table knowing that pancakes awaited them. Dad greeted them with a smile, puffing on his cigarette and blowing smoke rings across the table at them. Amy concentrated on her pancakes, but Crystal giggled and waved the smoke away.

After breakfast dad headed for the recliner and opened the colored comic section of the Sunday paper, while the girls helped clean up the dishes and talked about going over to the neighbors to play.

Dad called from the living room. "Hey Crystal! Want me to read the funny papers to you?"

Amy headed quietly out the back door in search of a more peaceful adventure, and Crystal entered the living room and climbed up onto her dads lap. She was careful not to bump her shoulder so that he wouldn't see her wince. Then he tickled her, opened the comic section wide, and began to read in his grandest story teller voice. Crystal leaned back and drank in the warmth of his arms, the strength of his shoulders, and the richness of his voice. He loved her, more than Amy, maybe even more than mom. She'd try harder from now on to make him happy.