Kalik by Dan Luby
Mary and Stu, affluent and humble, weekly saw Kalik, a homeless psychotic. It was their wont to comfort the deprived woman with the overflow of their gilded cup: money, meals, and warm talk. On one such visit, Kalik revealed the fact that she had a child years before. Her shaky, spotted hands trembled with a yellowed photograph.
“Juniper,” she told Mary and Stu, whose hearts bled. They left the sated Kalik, soon to be drunk from their generosity.
“Oh, Stu, we should find her. We really should.” Stu’s sense of importance soared. His eyes crinkled at their sides, as he smiled, his pleasure alloyed with pain. The well-connected couple had very little to do to find the young Juniper. She had been adopted at birth and lived in the neighboring town. Her last name was Esconza. She was 13. She agreed to travel by bus, the kindly Esconzas edgy but supportive. Kalik was, after all, her blood.
“Kalik, we have a surprise,” Mary said, weeks later. Juniper, a summer dress blowing slightly in the breeze, stepped forward with flowers and great nerve. Kalik’s menacing psychosis flared and she nearly tore the child limb from limb.
More weeks later, after Juniper’s release from the emergency room, Mary and Stu apprehensively made their way in slow circles to Kalik’s side of town and happened on her screaming at traffic.
“Why,” asked Mary in a harsh whisper. Stu pulled her close, manly and protective. Kalik, eyes glassy and black as coal, stared.
“I saw my eyes in hers and I wanted the pain in us both to die. I’m her mother and I was teaching her!”
She then screamed a bloodcurdling yowl from the top of her lungs to let them know, all of them, that philanthropy is the Devil’s work.
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About the Author
Dan Luby
Born: Hartford, CT
Now Resides: Seattle, WA (Actually “From”: Florida, the Transient State)
Online: www.danluby.wordpress.com
Bio:
Recent Work History:
1978 - 1996: Child; Began to independently eliminate waste. Acquired essential cognitive abilities. Worked well with others.
1997 – 2002: Early Adult; Showed a keen interest in chemistry, specifically the reactivity of the blood-brain barrier to specific alkaloids. Published pieces in The Eyrie literary magazine. In an attempt to monetize my strategic niche, pursued and attained a B.A. in Philosophy, which provided forward socioeconomic ascendancy.
2002 – Present: Adult; Participated in requisite ¼ life crisis. Married a schoolteacher as a means of expanding my portfolio. General empire-building.
Special Skills: Elaborate Swearing, Advanced Slumming, Creative Procrastination, and Microsoft Office Suite.
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image by MYSOTiS.
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