How the Moon and the Sun Came to Live in the Sky

I saw Ms. Ranier wearily rubbing her face when I entered the front office.

"It's been that kind of day...."  I mentioned, while signing out.

"Girl, yes.  Some kid pooped in the urinal in that bathroom." she said, motioning across the hall.

"AND IT SMELLED TERRIBLE."

"That kid of yours, Melinda, those noises she makes are weird."  I mentioned to Ms. Martin.  I'll be working with my students in her classroom and all I hear are these growling noises coming from Melinda, who is usually seated behind me.  

"Yeah, she's getting better about it in class, but now she does it in the cafeteria.  She waits until it's totally silent and lets out a long snarl."

"He gone, you know.  Bobby gone."

"Wait, what, what do you mean?"

One or two, one or two.  Big Bobby, the guy at the gas station where I buy my beer.  

"What happened?"  I asked.

"Was it bad, what happened?"

"Over there, in that park.  Fentanyl.  He gone."

I looked over at the "Hill Street Beauty Spot", a weird, roadside area across the street from the gas station.  He died there, alone.  The guy that always hung out with my friend that sits in a wheelchair, as if it is a regular chair.  One or two, you gettin' one or two, he asked me for years when I'd pull up. 

"I just saw him."  I responded.

I sat on the dirty floor of my trailer at seven thirty in the morning, rigging my brand new bookshelf back together with wood filler and duct tape.  Then I sort of turned it upside down so the repair was less visible and piled the books back on it.  

I finished reading a folktale to Muriel about how the sun and the moon came to live in the sky.  Water visited their house and pushed them up to the sky after filling the house with itself and sea creatures.  

"So Muriel, what do you think is the message of this story?"  I asked.

"DON'T LET BIG PEOPLE IN YOUR HOUSE!"  she exclaimed.  

"My mom is taking me to see llamas after school today."  one of Muriel's table-mates informed me.

"Oh wow!  That's awesome!  I would love to do that."  I responded.

"I'll ask my mom to call and invite you."  he replied sweetly, and continued working on his paper.  

I got some beer from the gas station.  My friend in the wheelchair wasn't there, no one was.  I cut across a side street behind this church.  Everyone was double parked and a lot of people were in the parking lot.  I realized it was a funeral and shoved our car on the side of the street, ass of it nearly in the intersection.  A Black cop on a motorcycle hissed out, beginning the procession and then, two massive black horses pulled out, dragging a shiny black glass-windowed carriage with a casket inside, adorned with flowers.  A black limo followed and another Black cop on motorcycle closed the gap as men ran into the street, trying to clear the road.  

The horses galloped down Hill Street, headed south, dragging the carriage with the casket behind it.  

*Title derived from Why the Sun and the Moon Live in the Sky