We had slept in all of our clothes. His button-down was buttoned up & I had everything on from the nite before, including my belt & my bra. It was very chaste for 9 in the morning.
Do you want some worry dolls? I said. I kept them by the bed. Someone gave them to me once but I don't really want them.
No, I don't want them particularly either, he said.
But look, I said. Worry dolls are funny. You can get them to take all of your troubles away, & they are always kept in this same kind of little yellow box.
Hmm, he said. Maybe if I get enough of them I can get them to start doing all kinds of chores for me. Like: Worry Doll, clean my apartment!
No, no, I said. You have to phrase it in the form of a worry.
I see your point, he said. OK, so I'd say: Worry Doll, I'm very
worried, I'm
concerned, because my apartment is very dirty & I don't have any time to clean it & I have guests coming tomorrow.
I don't have nearly enough dolls for all my worries, I said, picking thru the small yellow box with my finger. The plain little strings stuck together with dots of streaked marker for eyes.
There are only four of them in here, I said disappointedly.
Maybe you can get a whole army of them to do your bidding, he said.
A whole regiment, at least, I agreed. That's exactly what I need. All of them under my pillow at nite.
& just then it felt very warm & very far from worrying lying there in all of our clothes with the buttons buttoned & the belts fastened & the familiar dolls in the same old box by the bed. It was very early in the morning for a Saturday & not long after that he was gone.
