Amabile by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Amabile

Page 7

Yesterday

The late afternoon rhythm of the house was already in motion by the time Morey, 16, pushed open the front door, backpack sliding off one shoulder in the practiced way of someone who has done it hundreds of times. The air inside carried the familiar blend of pencil shavings, laundry detergent, and whatever mother Elena was simmering on the stove. Tonight it was onions softening in a pan, giving the whole first floor a warm, savory hum.

In the dining room, the ongoing Monopoly board game lay exactly where the four siblings had left it that morning; half tilted on a placemat, Chance cards fanned out like a magician’s deck, the metal dog and the top hat parked in front of the orange properties. Grother Ludwig, 15, was already there, hunched over the board with the seriousness of a tax auditor, counting out his cash into neat piles. Sister Hannah, 14, sat cross legged on a chair, chewing the end of a pencil as if she were preparing for a standardized test rather than a board game. Little sister, Irene, 12, the youngest, was reorganizing the Community Chest pile for the third time, smoothing each card flat with both palms.