The Family and the Farm
Whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof.
–Genesis 2:19
As soon as I said the Forbidden Word, my entire family stopped breathing. Mom’s face turned white. Dad’s face turned red.
“You always have to spoil everything,” Dad said. “Don’t you? DON’T you?”
“I only said…”
“It’s always just one more thing you want, isn’t it?”
“I only said MAYbe…”
“You selfish little pig, you never quit, do you? DO you?”
“I ONLY SAID, MAYYYBe now that we have a FARM, I could finally get a pony!”
“How many times have I told you, no ponies! Did I or did I not, expressly forbid you to even talk about ponies?”
“I didn’t say ponies, I said pony, just one pony, just one LOUSY PONY!!!”
Dad threw up his hands.
“I can’t take this any more, Joan! She’s always pestering me for something; first it was her damn dog and now its’...”
“He’s not MY dog, he’s EVVIE’s dog, SHE has a dog and I have NOTHING!”
“That’s IT, Joan, I’m through with her!”
“Dave, she’s just a kid, she doesn’t know any….”
Dad started yelling and pounding the table and my sister Evvie started bawling and the dog started barking and Mom got up and hustled me out of the dining room into the kitchen.
Mom had burned dinner again, and the smell of scorched macaroni & cheese hung in the air; but it was much easier to breathe in the kitchen than in the dining room. Mom was whispering and I could barely hear her over the yelling and bawling and barking.
“Your father doesn’t mean to yell at you, Ruthie. It’s just that he has so many worries at work, and sometimes he….”
“Oh I get it now! Just because he’s bought himself a farm it doesn’t necessarily follow that I could have a pony.”
“Dad has bought this nice farm for all of us, for our summer place,” Mom said, “so can’t you just be happy about that tonight, and not turn right around and ask for something more? Now Dad has two mortgages to pay, and more worries. Can’t you just tell him that you’re grateful?”
“I am grateful, I said I was grateful! I only said maybe, maybe, sometime, before I die of old age, I could get a pony! What good is a farm without a pony? Anyway I thought MomMom and PopPop gave him the money to buy the farm.”
“Loaned us, they loaned us the money, so we have to pay them back.”
“So why can’t they loan me a pony and let me pay them back?”
“Please Ruthie, don’t keep this up. No more about ponies right now, we’ll discuss it some other time. Now let’s go out and apologize to Dad and tell him you’re grateful, all right?”
So we went back in and I told Dad I was sorry I nagged him.
“That’s better,” he said. “There will be no more discussion of ponies, ever, while I am head of this family. Ponies cost money, which, by the way, we don’t have.”
I ducked my head and my tears fell on that plate of stone cold petrified macaroni and blistered blackened cheese, and Bird’s Eye Frozen Peas and Carrots shriveling up alongside them.
“Finish your dinner,” said Dad.
Silence.
“I said, finish what’s put in front of you.”
“Please Dave, she’s upset now, don’t make her...”
“I work like a slave to put this food on the table and this roof over her head, and the least she can do is clean her plate and be grateful! Finish. Your. Dinner!”
“No.”
“Dave, don’t make it worse by...”
“She can’t say no to me! You heard me! Eat your dinner!”
“You say no to me all the TIME!”
“I won’t tolerate this kind of behavior, young lady.”
“I’d behave a hell of a lot better if I had a pony.”
Dad reached over the table and slapped my face.
“I’ll teach you to disobey me! Go to your room! If you continue to defy me there will be no more riding lessons!”
“Dave, those riding lessons are not your gift to take back, she only...”
But Dad rounded on Mom yelling How Dare She Take My Side Against Him and Mom said she’s just a little kid she doesn’t know any better and I ran to my room and Evvie and Robbie came too and we listened to our parents arguing.
“This is about much more than food, there’s a principle involved,” Dad shouted.
Mom whimpered that it was only food and you’re only making things worse by forcing her, Dave.
“Do you think I got to leave food on my plate when I was her age? Do you think my parents handed me whatever I wanted? Do you? DO you?
Then we heard a crash and Mom screamed stop it, Dave stop it-stopitstopit and a noise like hands clapping and Dad slammed some doors and got into the car and drove off, probably over to his parents’ house, where he always always finished everything on his plate and he always never got anything he wanted.