C^{ar Tag By C.L. Bledsoe}

Elizabeth Solum was sitting on her couch with her youngest son Travis and their cat named Dog watching TV. She lifted a can of Dr. Pepper to her mouth and sipped on the straw.

"Give me a drink," Travis said.

"You've got some Kool Aid right there."

"But it's hot!"

"Well, you need to learn to leave things in the refrigerator until you're ready for them, so they'll stay cool."

Just as she finished saying this, her stepson Nathan threw the front door of the house open, ran inside and slammed it behind him. He yelled a "Hi Beth," at her and darted into the hall.

She sat still for two seconds then heard a knock on the door. She said, "don't move," to Travis, got up and opened the door to reveal Nathan's mother, Theresa, a nervous looking mid thirties woman with short brown hair, wearing a jeans and a white blouse.

"Is he all right?" Theresa asked through the screen door. The cat had followed Elizabeth to the door, and poked its head against the screen.

"Yeah," she said, "What did he do?"

"I just hit him with my car. He ran right out in front of me. Right there, in front of your house." She pointed over her shoulder. "I didn't even see him."

Elizabeth sighed heavily, "I'm sorry," she said.

"He ran right out in front of me," she said. "He slapped his hands on my hood and I saw him fall, I thought he was dead. " She erupted into large sloppy tears. "He was just lying there on the pavement. I tried to keep him from getting up, I was afraid he had a concussion. Then he jumped up and ran in here. Oh my God, I'm just glad I wasn't driving fast. I'm just afraid he has a concussion or something."

"I'm sure he'll be all right, "Elizabeth said.

"Should I take him to the Emergency Room?"

"I'm sure he'll be all right. That's the third time this week he's been hit," Elizabeth said. "What was it you wanted?"

Theresa's wide eyes narrowed. "Oh," she said. "I was going to talk to Tom."

"He's not here."

"Well I guess I can call him at work. My car's doing that thing again," Theresa said.

"Try that if you like," Elizabeth said. She smiled at Theresa for several seconds until Theresa realized the conversation was over, and stepped back. Elizabeth closed the door.

"Divorced for two years and she still wants him to fix her car," Elizabeth said to no one.

"Nathan!" She yelled. He walked into the living room, avoiding her eyes. "Take your shirt off," she said. He pulled it over his head. She bent to him and ran her hand over his chest and side, "does this hurt?" She pressed into his skin. He shook his head. She checked his legs, then grabbed his head and looked in his eyes, "What did I tell you about playing that game?"

"She hit me! She ran over me!"

"Uh-huh, just like that woman yesterday? Or the one last week?" She let go of him and straightened up, "its funny how you get hit by all these cars but they never hurt you." Nathan sighed and turned his head. "Oh, I'm stupid now? I know what you're up to. You march your ass to your room and you stay there. Your father can deal with this."

Nathan turned around and took two steps but didn't notice that his younger brother Travis had moved from the couch. He ran up to Nathan, slapped both hands on his chest and fell down right in front of him. Nathan tripped, flailing his arms wildly as he fell to the ground. Elizabeth's eyes widened.

"Oh no, not you too," Elizabeth said.

Nathan got up and walked to his room. Elizabeth grabbed Travis's arm and pulled him to his feet. "Travis," she started to say, but looked at his smiling face and just sighed, "go play in your brother's room. Nathan! Watch him! " Travis ran off to his brother's room. "And no video games! Read him a story or something," she yelled after him. She looked down at the cat who was standing at her feet, "just be glad you were spayed," she said and walked to the bathroom. The cat followed her. "I can hear that front door, or any other way you might think you can sneak outside. I can hear everything, just because I'm in the bathroom doesn't mean I won't consider for even a second jumping out and snatching the life out of you," she yelled at Nathan. "Okay, " He yelled back. Satisfied, she pushed the cat out of the way with her foot, and closed the bathroom door behind her.

She ran water in the bathtub, checking the temperature until she was happy with it. As the tub started to fill, the phone rang. She paced into the kitchen and answered it. "Did you tell that bitch to call me? " It was her husband, Tom.

"You're the one who can't say no to her."

Tom sighed loudly. "She's weaseling out on the ball game."

"What?"

"She said, 'something came up'. Jerry has to work late and her sister is coming in from out of town, or something, I dunno, her cell phone went out."

"She's known about this for weeks. And she was just here and didn't say anything about it, the bitch."

"Yeah, well, nothing to do about it now."

"No, there is something to do. I'm going to call that bitch and ..."

Tom cut her off. "It wouldn't do any good."

"It would make her feel as bad as Nathan will feel. She promised him she'd take him to the game, weeks ago."

"I know."

"He's the starting pitcher."

"I know."

"She went to three games last season, three games!"

"I know, look, if I could do anything about it I would."

Through the kitchen window, Elizabeth could see the tips of roses growing from a bush Tom had planted for her after months of her nagging.

"What about her car?" She asked.

"She's coming by on my lunch break."

"That's real nice. She cops out on her son, but you're still going to fix her car."

"It'll get her to leave me alone," he said.

"All right, whatever. I'm taking a bath. I guess I'll be taking Nathan."

"All right," Tom said.

She went back into the bathroom and watched the tub fill. She stripped, turned the faucet off, and stepped into the warm water and sat down, her head opposite the faucet. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back for a full minute, thinking about the phone call. "Bastard," she muttered and the warmth of the tub lulled her into a doze.

Elizabeth's head jerked forward. She sat still and listened to the house. The television was murmuring in the living room. The air conditioner was buzzing. She couldn't hear either of her sons. She stood up quickly, and unplugged the bath tub drain. She grabbed a towel and dried herself off. She still couldn't hear either of her sons. She wrapped the towel around herself, opened the door and stuck her ear out. From Nathan's room she could hear the quiet buzz of his television. She went to his room and knocked softly on the door, then opened it. He was in mid flight, jumping towards the television to turn it off. He was holding a video game controller.

"Hey, your Mom called," she said. Nathan turned calm eyes up to her, expecting the worst. "She can't make it Friday. Jerry has to work late, and her sister's coming in." Nathan nodded. "We'll still be there," she added. He smiled at her. "Where's Travis?" She asked. Nathan shrugged.

She closed the door and went to Travis's room. He was sitting in a corner, playing with Lincoln Logs. She exhaled quickly, closed that door and went back into the bathroom to get dressed.

After she dressed, she went into the living room and sat on the couch. She curled her legs up under her and started flipping channels on the TV. After a few, she absent-mindedly reached her hand out to her side to pet the cat, who for the first time she could remember, wasn't there. She looked at the empty couch, and then looked around the room. She got up and went back to Nathan's room. "Is Dog in here?" She asked, looking around.

"Nope, haven't seen her." She closed the door. She walked towards Travis's room but just then the phone rang. She walked into the kitchen and answered it, "Hello?"

"Hey Elizabeth, what are you doing?"

"Hey sis, same old," She sighed. "Theresa bailed again. Got some more crack to smoke, or something."

"Isn't the game tonight? She waited till the day-of? Jesus."

"Yeah. You know, this is not how people are supposed to live. Hang on; let me get something to drink." She walked to the refrigerator, "Nathan got hit by another car."

"Hurt him this time? "

"No, almost wish one of them would, might knock a little sense into him." She pulled the door open and screamed as Dog jumped out onto her face, shrieking. She dropped the phone as the cat dug its claws into her cheek. She joined it shrieking for a second then calmed herself, pulled it off her face and set it on the floor. Its back was still arched and it was hissing and growling. Its fur was cool from the refrigerator. She picked the phone back up.

"I have to call you back later," she said and hung up. "Nathan!" She screamed.

He ran into the kitchen. "What happened?" He said.

She looked at him. "Where's your brother? Travis! Get in here!" He came in, looking scared, "What the hell did you do?" He just stared at her.

"Beth, you're bleeding," Nathan said, pointing to her cheek.

Elizabeth touched her cheek then looked at the blood on her fingers. "Why did you put Dog in the refrigerator, Travis?"

"So she would stay fresh and I could get her when I want her." Travis said.

They arrived at the game a few minutes early. Nathan went to warm up with the other kids, Elizabeth and Tom sat in the top row of the bleachers, which was the sixth row. They had not spoken a word about Theresa since the phone call.

"Did you get her car fixed?"

"No, I just gave it a lick and a promise. She needs a new one."

"Guess you'll be paying for that."

Tom sighed. "Don't start."

"If he plays a bad game because of her, I swear to God..." Elizabeth said.

"Let's just watch the game."

Elizabeth pursed her lips and watched the graying grass of the field and thought about murder. Soon the kids filed onto the field and play began. Nathan's team was up first. He was the third batter up with one out. He hit a respectable grounder and got on first. The next batter was a young boy Elizabeth recognized, but couldn't place. He missed the first three pitches and struck out, and as he walked back to the dugout, she remembered he was the son of a woman she used to work with. The next batter stepped up and whacked the first pitch hard. Elizabeth watched the ball soar to the chain link fence at the edge of the ball field and suddenly realized everyone was yelling at Nathan. She looked around trying to understand. Nathan was just standing on base. The new runner reached him and passed him and ran all the way home while Nathan just stood there, staring at nothing. Finally, the first base coach tapped Nathan on his shoulder and whispered something to him. Nathan's coach came up, along with the other team's coach, and had a conference.

"What's happening?" Elizabeth asked.

"Don't know," Tom answered.

After a few seconds, Nathan walked back to the dugout, followed by his coach. The other team filed out onto the field.

"What happened?"

"He's out," Tom finally answered. Elizabeth started to stand, but Tom grabbed her hand, pulling her back down. Nathan didn't bat again until the last inning, and struck out.

"I'm sick of it. Just drop it," Tom said, later in their bedroom. He strode into the connecting bathroom. Elizabeth heard water running in the sink, then the toilet flushing. She stared at the bathroom door until he came back, and then looked away.

"She promised she'd be there, but the first chance she got to bail, she's gone."

"Well," he said slowly. "I'm not defending her or anything, but maybe if you were a little nicer to her."

"So this is my fault?"

"No, I'm not saying that, I'm just saying she's uncomfortable around you. She's jealous because Nathan's so close to you."

"Just because I'm around, and I halfway pay attention to him."

"I know, I know, I'm just saying." He sat on the bed beside her, picked up the remote control from the bedside table, and turned the television on. "It puts him in a bad place."

"No, she puts him in a bad place. And why are you taking her side?"

"I'm not taking anybody's side. I refuse to be put in this position. I get enough shit having to put up with her; I don't need shit from you. She's a fact of life, period. I spend all my time running damage control because you take everything so personally," he said.

"Somebody has to," she said and stormed into their bathroom, slamming the door. She sat on the toilet, staring at the wall. "At least I didn't name the cat Dog," She muttered. Her eyes roamed over the room and settled on the sink, beside her. There was a glob of toothpaste in the sink. She stood up and slammed the cabinet door, under the sink, open. She fished around, grabbed a rag and wiped the stain off. She looked at the toilet, and noticed a yellow droplet on the floor in front of it. She glanced at the cup on the edge of the sink. In the cup, her pink toothbrush and his blue one sat innocently, along with a flattened unrolled tube of Colgate toothpaste. She clenched her fists and glared back at the door. The television was blaring; she pictured him lying on the bed in his boxers, oblivious to the world. She snatched the blue toothbrush, reached under the sink for the can of Comet cleaner, and turned to the toilet. She dumped Comet on the floor and looked at it. Beyond the door, she could hear a laugh track from the television. She was wearing a fierce, tight grin, staring at the floor, imagining using the toothbrush on it. She stared for several seconds, until she realized that she wasn't going to do it. Then, slowly, she put his toothbrush back in the cup, wetted the cloth, and scrubbed the floor, then she rinsed the toothpaste out of the sink.

Back in the bedroom, Tom was lying in bed, his eyes splitting their time between the television and her face. She sat on the end of the bed, facing away from him.

"She really knocked a hole in his enthusiasm," she said.

"Yep."

"Maybe if I talked to her about it, tried to explain it to her?"

"Maybe. Might help."

Elizabeth nodded. She glanced at the television screen, not really seeing anything but flashing lights. Under her, she could feel the bed move as Tom slid down to wrap hairy arms around her. She allowed herself to close her eyes and lean back into him. Her body relaxed and she could feel his cool breath on her neck. It was something she hadn't felt in so long, she had forgotten how nice it could be.