Free Spare Change by Bette Lee Crosby

trees, Ethan hunkered down in the fort; the fielder’s mitt in his lap and
Dog by his side. He listened to a barrage of angry words fly back and forth; it
was the same as always, he’d heard it a thousand times before. After a while,
they’d tire of the name calling and go off to the bedroom together; then it
would quiet down. On this day however, such a thing never happened. The voices
continued to grow louder and angrier; which is why Ethan Allen took to keeping
his eye on the house. After a particularly violent exchange of words, Susanna
ran from the house with a valise tucked under her arm—her audition dresses were
the only thing she couldn’t stand to leave behind.  
    Benjamin followed her out shouting, “Get your ass back in this
house!”     
    “Like hell I will!” she answered. “I had enough of you and your
bullshit! I’m going to New York and nothing on earth can stop me!” She tossed
the valise into the back of the car but before she could slide behind the
wheel, Benjamin’s fist came up beneath her chin with such force that it lifted
her from her feet. When Susanna dropped to the ground, there was a loud
cracking of bone and she made no effort to move.
    Benjamin stood looking down at her for what seemed to be the longest
time; then he said, “Okay, enough pretending, now get up!” He nudged her with
the toe of his shoe, but still she did not move.
    Peering through the lower limb of a Douglas fir, Ethan Allen whispered,
“Come on, Mama, please get up.”  
    Twice more Benjamin poked her with his foot; then he shouted, “Okay,
bitch, stay there, see if I care!” and stomped back into the house.  Moments
later he came back with a folded towel, and tucked it beneath her head. “I’m
sorry,” he mumbled tearfully, “I didn’t mean to do this.” He lifted Susanna
into his arms, and carried her inside, promising over and over again that such
a thing would never happen again. 
    Afterwards, there was no more arguing to be heard. Ethan Allen,
figuring Susanna would be awhile smoothing things over with Benjamin, went back
to the fort to wait. Dog, having eaten most of the bologna, rolled over onto
his side. Ethan Allen, caught up in his thoughts of going to New York, didn’t
feel much like sleeping so he turned on the radio and listened as the Orioles
battled the Boston Red Sox. When Brooks Robinson drove home two runs with a
double in the top of the ninth, the Orioles got hold of the lead. ‘ Looks
like our birds are just three outs from getting a big win here at Fenway,’ Chuck Thompson said, but Ethan paid little attention.
    Ordinarily, in such a situation the boy’s ear would have been pinned to
the radio, but on this particular day he was listening for something else. He
was waiting to hear the sound of his mama slamming out the door and tearing off
down the drive, but so far there hadn’t been anything other than a
deep-throated sobbing that every so often stopped and started.
     In the bottom of the ninth Zuverink struck out Jensen, then Klaus, and
the win seemed a sure thing; so Ethan Allen left the game and slipped out of
the fort. He crept through the stand of trees and inched closer to the house,
wondering if maybe he’d missed the sound of Susanna leaving. But no, her car
was still parked in the driveway with the front door hanging open. “Shit fire,
Mama,” he mumbled, “get a move on.” It was one thing to be late for work on any
other night, but not this night! If Benjamin had stomped off to the barn
as he usually did, Ethan could have gone inside and told Susanna, who at times
was damned irresponsible, to get hurrying—but, Benjamin was still inside the
house.    
    Ethan moved closer and crouched behind the stump of an oak tree; he
tilted his ear every which way, but still could not catch wind of what was
happening. Susanna had told him to stay clear of Benjamin, but it was late in
the afternoon, a time when she ought to be playing the radio and snapping