bed with Mama?â
âSheâs trying to get dressed. Sheâs got my pants on like a coat.â
The boy was angry at his sister but at the same time amused. They had had trouble, the same trouble they had had every morning when the girl woke up and plagued the boy to notice her, to let her get in his bed, to go with her up the hall and into the living-room as they were forbidden to do, to get going.
The boy knew the man would know that he had hit the girl again and perhaps tell him not to do that, but the man was looking at Mama, he was looking at his wife, and he was smiling a little.
The man and the boy were naked, exactly alike, but the man was huge and hairy and all his skin was pale, and the boy was little, like a little rock, his skin dark and smooth with the darkness and smoothness of a new thing, of the man started out all over again in his son. They were each up a little where they were men, and the man said, âWhen you get up in the morning go and pee.â
âI
did
.â
âDid you lift the seat?â
âI always lift the seat.â
âSomebodyâs been peeing on the seat.â
âItâs Rosey, and itâs not pee, itâs water. She fills the glass and pours it into the toilet bowl and she never lifts the seat. She says sheâs peeing like me.â
âO.K., letâs go.â
They found the little girl sitting on the floor between her crib and the boyâs bed. She was naked except for the boyâs pants which she was trying to get over her head. She had been thoughtful, as she was when she was asleep, until she had seen him with her brother and then she had laughed and got up and run to him.
âHello, Papa.â
He took her up and carried her to the bathroom where he went over her with a washcloth made warm but without soap. He rinsed the cloth and warmed it and wrung it out again and handed it to the boy, who finished using it in five seconds. The man then used it himself and took them back to their bedroom.
âAll right. Stand right there, Rosey. Donât move.â
âAll right, Papa.â
âYou, too, Johnny. Thatâs right. Straight. You both look fine. Now donât move. Iâm going to put my clothes on and Iâll be right back. Donât move, just stand straight that way and wait.â
He was dressed in not much more than forty-five seconds. When he got back to the room the girl was sitting on the floor working with the pants again and the boy was looking for something under his bed. They both jumped up and stood somewhat as they had been standing when he had left.
âO.K. Rosey first. Whereâs your stuff, Rosey?â
âThis is all I got,â the little girl said, holding out her brotherâs pants.
He found her stuff all around the room and in her crib but had trouble finding one sock and then found it in the pocket of the pants.
âHow did that get in there?â
âJohnny put it in.â
âI didnât. She did.â
âAnd he hit me.â
âDid you?â
âIt wasnât my fault.â
The girl was dressed now.
âAll right, Rosey. You go over there and look out the window until I get Johnny dressed.â
âHe hit me, Papa.â
âDid it hurt?â
âYes, Papa,â the girl said softly.
âI didnât hit her hard,â the boy said. âI just hit her a little one to stop her from putting her sock in my pocket.â
âIt hurt, Papa.â
âDo you want me to spank him?â
âSpank him and spank him and spank him.â
He waited a moment, then she said, as she always did, âBut not
really
, Papa.â
Christ, the man thought, theyâre crazy about each other.
The boy bent over the manâs knee and the man began to let him have it, easy but not too easy because it was no fun for them at all if there wasnât a little noise. They both laughed, laughing together while the man