Against the Beams

Against the Beams Paul Rousseau (bio) a fall from this height wouldn'tkill me necessarilyworst case scenario, a concussion if Iland weird, or a broken wrist right beforebaseball season begins I hang on the wrong side ofthe banister in our grand foyer and waitfor my dad to get back to Cat Stevens andhis computer where technically I am in his line of sightto keep the game fair, I do and do not wish to be seen I hear the exasperatedwhisper-scream of theMr. Coffee carafe as it's lifteddemanding to be put down this instant some drops of breakfast blendsizzle on the hot plate becomingbitter rings of plaquey residue as dadtops off his Detroit Tigers mug and returns the stairs are a very scary compound ina very scary country and I am a secret agentwho got sick of watching the same few episodes ofFairly Odd Parents every Sunday my personal theme music stops when I slipand lose my footing for a secondit hits me that, yesterday, my chore was to dustevery wood surface in the house, which iswhy my socks now reek of aerosol-citrus gunkas I rip them off with a feeble eh End Page 268 Dad does not bat an eye as Ipeek to see if he heard anything, it seemsthat a cascading guitar lick in Ccovered my tracks I barrel over the topmost handrailregrettably, the mission is a completesuccess, met with attention from mycat, K.C, instead of a remark ordiscipline from him on the top step, I use my palmas a kickstand to prop up my chinand notice how when I refuse to pet K.Che rubs his own furry body against the beams End Page 269 Paul Rousseau Paul Rousseau is a disabled writer. His debut Friendly Fire: A Fractured Memoir is forthcoming from HarperCollins in September 2024. Paul's work has also appeared in Roxane Gay's The Audacity, Catapult, and Wigleaf, among others. You can read his words online at Paul-Rousseau.com and follow him on X @Paulwrites7. Copyright © 2024 Pleiades and Pleiades Press