landers

Tishko was out there howling and the summer air wassweet and Freda's bones were pushing their way outward. Stretchingher from socket to socket. There's nothing wrong with you, her mother would say. You're pretty as a Gibson Girl. You just had your growth spurt early, but Freda knew better. She knew it when she was only ten.

 

 

外面，Tishko机场咆哮着，夏天的空气甜美馥郁，而Freda的骨头们则在她的身体里横行霸道。她戳破了一双又一双袜子。这不是你的错，她的母亲会安慰她。你和吉普森的插画里的女孩一样可爱，不过是长得快了点罢了。但Freda知道事情远不止是这样，她在十岁就明白了这一切。

 

Her house had been her parents' house. They'd bought it new when Freda was nine. A split-level built in 1951 that cost seventhousand dollars. She was thirty-seven now and sleeping in their bedroom. It had low ceilings and low doorways and she knew all the places she needed to stoop. Every three weeks she cleaned the upstairs windows by standing on thelawn. She used a bucket with hot vinegar water, she didn't mind the smell. There was a bluejay nest in the eaves up there and the birds really fouled thepanes.

 

她的房子曾经也是她父母的。在Freda九岁的时候他们买下了这里。那是1951年，这样一栋上好的房子花了他们七千美元，而现在37岁的她正睡在当年她父母的房间。她熟知这房子里每一处需要她弯腰的地方，比如低矮的天花板和门前走廊。每隔三个星期她就站在门外的草坪上用满满一桶热醋水清理楼上的窗户，她不介意刺鼻的气味。而这都是因为房子顶上有一只冠蓝鸦的巢，那些鸟儿实在是太喜欢弄脏她的窗户了。

 

“Lady, what's your problem?” A little boy was standing on the sidewalk with his bike. He had a shoebox strapped to the rackbehind the seat. “I never saw a person big as you.”

 

“女士，您有什么麻烦吗？”一个小男孩推着他的自行车站在人行道上，自行车的后座绑着一个鞋盒。“我从没见过像您这么大体型的人。”

 

“These bluejays are my problem,” she said. “Look at the mess they're making.”

 

“这些冠蓝鸦就是我的麻烦，”她说，“看看它们把这里弄成什么样了。”

 

“I bet they got a nest up there. My momma says they're pests.”

 

“我敢打赌他们在你的房顶搭了个巢。我妈妈说那是些坏家伙。”

 

“Where's your house?”

 

“你家在哪里？”

 

“We're new,” he said. He pointed four doors up to where the Clevelands used to live. “We're in the yellow house, but my momma, she's gonna paint it because it's much too bright. She can't right now because of the fumes. In September I'm starting at the Bristol School. That's when I'm getting a brother.”

 

“我们刚搬过来，”他说，指了指隔了四户人家远的那栋房子，以前是Clevelands一家住在那里。“那栋黄色的，不过我妈妈打算另外刷个颜色，黄色太亮了，因为那些烟她现在没法马上刷漆。九月份的时候，我就要去Bristol学校上学，而且我还会有个弟弟。”

 

“How do you know it won't be a girl?”

 

“你怎么知道那不会是个女孩？”

 

“No way,” he said. “I asked my mom for a brother. And she can tell, anyhow. She gets sick in the mornings and not at night and she says only boys do that. Sometimes she's in there for hours.”

 

“没门，”他说。“我告诉我妈我想要个弟弟，而且不管怎样，她说她能断定那是个男孩，因为每天早上她都会感到恶心，但是晚上就不会，她说只有怀男孩才会这样，有时候她甚至会在厕所里呆上好几个小时。”

 

Freda set her bucket down and wiped her wet hands downthe front of her pants. It was May, but the air still had some bite and this boy was wearing only a pair of thin cotton shorts. She pointed to the back ofhis bike. “What do you have in that box?”

 

Freda放下桶，在裤子上擦了擦手。已经五月了，空气却还是有些冷冽，男孩只穿了一条薄薄的棉料短裤。她指了指单车尾。“这盒子里是什么？”

 

“I’m looking for crickets,” he said. “My lizard Freddy, he's got a condition.”

 

“我在找蟋蟀，”他说。“我的蜥蜴Freddy，他刚有了个小窝。”

 

“I've got plenty of those,” she said. “They're eating up my flowers.” The waterlily tulips were done for the year, but herlady tulips were just getting started. They were red on the outside, but their insides were yellow and orange and it was like having two different gardenswhen they finally opened.

 

“我这里可是有很多，”她说。“它们把我的花都吃掉了。”水郁金香种下有一年了，不过克路斯氏郁金香才种下不久。开花的时候，外层是红色的，里层却是黄色和橙色的，当它们完全盛开的时候，花园看起来将会和现在完全不同。

 

“You got some nice ones,” he said. “You got morethan Mrs.Dillman and she's out there every day.” He rubbed his thumb against his jaw like somebody much older. He was wearing aT-shirt from the Freedom Train. She could see it now that she was closer. She could see his collarbones and the hollow beneath his ribs and how his legs wereknobby as drumsticks and brown already from the sun.

 

“你有一些很漂亮的花嘛，”他说。“比Dillman太太的还要漂亮，虽然她每天都在花园打理。”他用手指蹭了蹭下巴，试图表现得成熟些。靠近一些后，她发现他穿了一件自由火车的T恤，还能看见他的锁骨，他的肋骨下凹陷的阴影，看见他像爪子一样嶙峋的腿，以及被太阳晒成褐色的皮肤。

 

“You want to see those birds? You want to see the babies sitting in the nest?” She held out her arms and he came to her. He should havebeen afraid, but he leaned his bike against her maple and walked across herlawn. She hoisted him upwards and toward the eaves, and he was all bones, thislittle boy. Her hands fit perfectly around his waist.

 

“你想看看那些鸟吗？巢里的雏鸟？”她伸出手臂，男孩子慢慢走过来。他本应有些害怕的，但还是把单车靠在枫树下，然后走过草地。她把他举到屋顶，这个瘦小的男孩子，全身都是硌人的骨头，她的手刚好能握住他的腰。