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Pakalaki Memories: 6

Kirby Wright

"Let's get sumpthin' foah yoah brothah," she said. "What's he like?"

"A dozen mint brownies."

"He can have one," she said, "and that's plenny."

"Ben likes eclairs too."

"Christ," she said, "yoah brothah's a damn hog."

"Can I help you?" asked the baker.

"Whachah want, Peanut?"

"An eclair."

"Two eclairs and one ah those mint brownies," Gramma told the baker. She opened a coin purse and placed a half-dollar on the stainless steel counter. When the baker told her she was a half-dollar short, she said, " 'Scuse me," and pulled out another from the purse.

We too the stairway back to the room because Gramma hated elevators after seeing a cable snap on an episode of Perry Mason. After we polished off the eclairs, she phoned my father at home and talked him into visiting the cemetery. It wasn't easy because I heard him yelling through the phone. He always got mad whenever she suggested something that wasn't on his agenda. She put the receiver down and looked like she was going to cry.

"Are we going?" I asked.

"Weah goin'," she said. She opened her compact and applied rouge to her cheeks.

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