Adelaide Brown
WR 513
Craig Lesley
On the back of the house, where the sun doesn’t quite hit the wall, the shingles had begun to rot. Wet, they had fallen off in places or were covered in moss. Tin Man had removed the spoilt shingles and had nailed on new ones. Poppa thought it would be character building to have Ted and Lenny help paint them.
“Where’s Ted?” Lenny asked meeting Tin Man on the back lawn.
Tin Man shrugged. “Saw him leave not too long ago. Must be playin’ baseball with some friends.” Tin Man squatted beside a bucket of paint and opened the lid with a screwdriver. He picked up a stick and started mixing.
“That’s not fair!” Lenny protested.
Tin Man poured some paint out into a shallow container. “Oh it’s alright, Lenny. It’ll give us more time to spend together.” He winked. “Grab a brush there, mouse,” Tin Man instructed. “Let me show you how its done.” He dipped his brush into the paint and then moved it against a wall of the container. “You wanna make sure the paints real even, so it don’t drip.” Lenny moved her brush awkwardly, it slopped a bit. “Not quite,” Tin Man told her. He put his hand over hers and mimicked the movement.
“I think we should wait for Ted,” Lenny mumbled.
“Naw,” Tin Man said looking squarely at her. “He’s just havin’ fun. He’ll help next time.” Tin Man walked over to the wall and motioned for her to follow. “Alright missy, now the key to a good paint job is to paint in all the same direction.” He ran his brush down a shingle. The paint glistened, wet.
Lenny began to paint hurriedly, on the part of the wall farthest from Tin Man. “Whoa there,” he said, coming over. “You gotta be careful. As my Daddy always said, ‘All good folks paint with even strokes.” He stood behind Lenny closely. Watching her move her arm up and down.
“You got it now,” he said lightly swatting her bottom.
Lenny shifted her hips away from him. “Ted should be here,” she blurted. “Maybe I should go get him.”
“What’s the matter, Lenny?” Tin Man moved closer to her. “Don’t you wanna hang out with you ol’ pal?” Lenny looked at him uncertainly. “Honey, you hang out with me every time I do a job here. I know you like me.” Tin Man grinned. “Don’t you like me, Lenny?”
Lenny nodded slowly. “It’s just that, you know, its not fair.”
“Ted’ll probably be back by lunchtime. Maybe he forgot” Tin Man told her. He walked back and picked up his brush. “I’m sure he’ll be home any minute.”
Tin Man started painting on the opposite side of the wall, making his way towards Lenny. He painted quickly. Smooth, sure strokes. Lenny couldn’t reach very far up the wall. Bits of paint flicked into her hair, and a long drip made its way down her arm.
She went to get more paint and Tin Man met her by the container. He leaned over and put his face next to hers. “I’m gonna go get Ted,” she told him, putting her brush down in the grass and stepping back. “He should be here. I’m gonna tell Poppa if he doesn’t come.”
“Lenny,” Tin Man seemed to be getting irritated. “You’ve already said that and I’ve already told you he’ll be here when he gets here.” He picked up Lenny’s brush. “You can’t put this there. The paint’ll dry and you’ll have grass stuck to the bristles.”
“Sorry,” she whispered.
Tin Man didn’t seem to hear. “Besides, nobody likes a tattle tale. Your Poppa’ll probably be madder at you for tattlin’.” Lenny didn’t say anything after that. She daubed more paint on her brush and went back to her section of the wall. Tin Man went to his side, humming songs. He turned to look at Lenny often.
When they met in the center of the wall, Tin Man told her. “You just paint the bottom of this section and I’ll reach over you and paint the top.”
“I think I need a drink of water,” Lenny told him.
“It’s almost lunchtime,” he responded. “We’ll take a break after we finish this part.”
“But I really have to go to the bathroom,” she said, pressing her legs together and making a face.
Tin Man eyed her uncertainly, “Alright, then. Just come back out when you’re done pissin’.”
Lenny entered the house and heard Ted making a sandwich in the kitchen. He had just gotten home.
“Where’ve you been?” Lenny said angrily. “I’m gonna tell Poppa you haven’t helped paint. He’s gonna be real mad.”
“What are you talking about, Lenny?” Ted said, taking a bite of his sandwich. He kept talking, his mouth full. “Nobody told me we were painting today.”
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