Simple Things

simple things


Every April Fool’s Day, my daddy’s youngest sister did something to fool us—
when I was eight, living in D.C. she told us we had no school
I was suspicious. I kept asking her
“You for real?” Yup, she assured me. “Don’t play Dot-Dot.”
“We got school?” Nope, she replied, and we jumped for joy
only for her to tell us “April Fool’s!”
when I was eleven, back home in N.C.
she told us that she’d won a million dollars
and she was sending us five hundred a piece
In 2003, shrieks from my sister and
the thud from the phone let me
know that not much had changed during the holiday.
Caller ID said Dorothy Ray. Dot-Dot.
she’d asked for an adult, but Charity assured her that no one was home.
smiling, she probably figured that Dot-Dot never missed this holiday.
But Dot-Dot insisted.
So did Charity.
Dot-Dot explained that she found daddy in his house, in a pool of his own blood.
As my sister cried, I figured it could not be what I felt it to be.
“Daddy dddd-ied” Charity sputtered through tears.
As my mother walked in she asked
What’s wrong baby?
My body too heavy to stand,
my head hit the table.