| Ten-year-old Johnny rushes home from
school. He invades the fridge and is scooping out some cherry
vanilla ice cream when his mother enters the kitchen.
She says, "Put that away, Johnny. You can't have ice
cream now. It's too close to suppertime. Go outside and
play."
Johnny whimpers and says, "There's no one to play with."
Trying to placate him, she says, "OK. I'll play with
you. What do you want to play?"
He says, "I wanna play Mommy and Daddy." Trying
not to register surprise, and to further appease him, she
says, "Fine, I'll play. What do I do?"
Johnny says, "You go up to the bedroom and lie down."
Figuring that she can easily control the situation Mom goes
upstairs. Johnny, feeling a bit cocky, swaggers down the
hall and opens the utility closet. He dons his father’s
old fishing hat. As he starts up the stairs he notices a
cigarette butt in the ashtray on the end table. He picks
it up and slips it in the corner of his mouth. At the top
of the stairs he moves to the bedroom doorway.
His mother raises her head and says, "What do I do
now?"
In a gruff manner, Johnny says, "Get your ass downstairs
and get that kid some ice cream!"
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