Candles

Mama loved candles. If you woulda come to our house back in '65, you'd a seen exactly how far her craziness with those little wax statues went. They was everywhere. On the table, on the counter, around the sink, above the toilet, on top of the TV, in the bookshelves... hell she even put them near where the dog ate. Oh, and they were all different types too. Long ones, short ones, fat ones. She really loved those skinny ones that come in the glass bottles and have weird saints and stuff on the front. You know what I'm talkin' bout? With Mary and baby Jesus and...uh...other people I should recognize after spending all those years kneeling and asking for forgiveness. Thinkin bout it, that's probably why Mama always loved those candles. Reminded her of church. Though why she'd want to bring that cold, dark place back to our house I don't know. Sometimes, if me or Jimmy was acting up real bad, she would light ten candles, for the 10 commandments, and make us sit and recite the Lord's Prayer until the house went dark. The wax would slide down the walls but Mama would just keep watchin' and listenin', makin sure we never skipped any parts. I'd be right tired by the time we finally finished. The next day we'd have to use our pocket money to go out and buy candles to replace the ones we'd burned.

Lookin' back, it's no surprise what happened. I done told her. I done told her to clean the wax off the floor. All I know is one morning Jimmy and I got on the bus and when we got home, the only thing left were some scorched glass bottles.