Amnesia

Georgie picked up his bowl and tipped it to his lips, slurping down the last of the milk before slapping the bowl onto the table. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand and reached for the backpack lying next to his chair.

"I'm going to Kevin's after school. I'll be gone 'til Sunday." The eighteen-year-old Georgie was already out the back door before the words were out of his mouth.

"Do you need money?" Kelly asked as an afterthought long after he had disappeared.

Morris grunted, "He's gone."

Kelly was mildly surprised he noticed.

The hall clock proclaimed the time with eight strikes of the bell. The clock itself was no bigger than a pie pan but it struck the hour and the half-hour with all the fuss of the antique grandfather clock she had always wanted. Morris had often promised her one, but the purchase had been put off until money wasn't so tight. It seemed like that day would never come. Last year, she had even been forced to take a job at the sewing factory to help make ends meet.

Morris folded the newspaper and left it to the left of his coffee cup, the same as he did every morning. His freshly-shaven, round face with the sagging jowls and double chin still held the shadow of his naturally heavy beard. By the time he came home tonight, he would have twice the four o'clock shadow as most men. When they were first married, Kelly had loved the feel of its prickle beneath her fingers. Now, she used it as an excuse to avoid his kisses. Besides, kissing was for young people in love.