20 degrees colder than what
the digital thermostat reads
when I show up after her shift.
My feet feel the frozen concrete
through the cheap tile
once I've removed my sneakers.
The forecast calls
for negative overnight temperatures.
This improvised icebox is
the last place I want to be
after working in the elements all week.
No airflow's felt from the vents.
She says it's been like this for months.
Her landlord threatened to evict her
when she complained about the furnace.
I inform her that it's not that simple
and he's the one breaking laws.
Her boundless victimhood
and fear of confrontation
refuse to believe me.
Though not each other
we know our roles.
I yank the control
free of the wall
to check its connections.
She's got no screwdriver small enough
in the toolbox her father assembled
like a lackluster consolation prize
for letting your child down your whole life
so I use the tip of a steak knife
to back out the screws labeled R and W.
Nothing happens when I jump the system
by touching the wires.
The furnace doesn't hum
through the drywall.
The heat doesn't pour
from the ducts.
Usually it works as an override.
It's a party trick of mine
like using a toothbrush
until the bristles are mashed flat.
I don't bother explaining the concept
as I reassemble her thermostat.
We sit and shiver on her couch
unable to ignore the chill.
I offer to speak to her landlord
the next day, set him straight
like a company foreman.
The subject drifts south.
She lies a few times
but I catch her
and turn into the skid.
That's reason enough to leave
without seeming cruel.
It's another party trick of mine
like attending funerals
to make sure the departed
are dead.
Currently reading:
"Hemingway on War" by Ernest Hemingway.
No comments:
Post a Comment