That summer, I read The Americanization of Emily.

Hornets built a nest in the apple tree.

Pap burned a can of oily rags to smoke them out.

Alma had her appendix removed.

Cowboy killed three of our neighbor’s chickens.

Jae ran off to New Orleans with a sailor.

I drank lemon soda and watched Matt

pole his boat through the shallows. His muscles

glistened with sweaty sheen. The boat slipped forward

silently as water dripped plink, plink, from his net,

spreading ripples in concentric circles. Matt

thought I was a child, but I knew

Grandma was eleven years younger than Pap.