Tardy
by Niles Reddick
The boy
refused to get in the car and go to kindergarten
because he had an erection and it could be seen
protruding in his khakis. His mother said it
would be fine, they needed to get going or he’d
be tardy, and it would go away before they got
there, but he didn’t believe her and thought
he needed to go to the hospital, that it might
break.
He’d had
them his whole life up to kindergarten, but he’d
never noticed them before. She didn’t know
what to say to him, but she found it humorous and
cupped her hand to hide smiles and giggles.
“Come on
and I’ll take you to see your dad at work,”
she said. “He’ll tell you what to do
since he has one.”
With that, the
boy jumped into the Oldsmobile 98, being careful
to keep the Batman lunchbox on his leg.
The father was
surprised to see the car pull up to the office
and came outside. “What’s wrong?”
“This,”
Charlie said, pointing. “It won’t go
down and everyone will make fun of me.”
“Just
push it to the other side,” the dad
reassured.
Charlie did,
and immediately, the father’s prediction
came true. “It’s gone. Thanks, Dad.”
“Sure
thing,” said the father, patting him on the
head and smiling at the mother.
Charlie was
tardy for kindergarten, but the teacher didn’t
ask why.
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