Irene was wearing a pink and blue flower print cotton shift and standing on the front porch with her hands on her hips as she watched the school bus pull away from the curb. “Thank God summer is over.” She said out loud, speaking more to herself than to Jenny; but no one else was there to hear her so Jenny assumed that Irene was speaking to her, and she replied.
“Amen to that,” Jenny said. “We should go inside and mix up some Bloody Mary’s. Celebrate the kids going back to school.”
“I don’t want some Bloody Mary’s,” Irene said, “and, I’m not all that happy ’bout the kids going back to school neither. I’m gonna miss having ’em around the house. I like ‘em being underfoot all day.”
“Yeah, I’m gonna miss ‘em too,” Jenny parroted back distractedly. “The little bastards do kinda grow on you. Who are we gonna kick around now?”
“What the hell are you talkin’ about Jenny?”
“I’m talkin’ ’bout, what with the kids gone back to school, I can start drinking at 8 o’clock – when the school bus leaves. I can drink till noon and then take a nap till 3:30 when they come home from school. Hell, if Billy makes the team I can sleep till 4. Summer really puts a kink in my drinking habits. Why, what are you talkin’ ’bout Irene?”
“I’m talkin’ about how the traffic is gonna ease up without so many folks comin’ to the beach. It’s gonna be a lot easier to get around. What are we gonna do with you Jenny? Do we gotta have another intervention?”
“Not yet,” Jenny said as she pulled a flask out of her bag. “But, maybe ’round Thanksgiving time.”
tnkerr-Writing Prompts and Practice 