Tuesday, June 26, 2012

The First Time She Laid Eyes on Him...

"The minute our eyes met, I knew what to do: so I stopped in the middle of what I was doing, which was dusting off the glass shield over the ice cream buckets, and stacking up waffle cones here and sugar cones there. From the counter I grabbed a bunch of paper tissues, and bent all the way down, like, to pick something from the floor. Then with a swift, discrete shove, I stuffed the tissues into one side of my bra, then the other, ‘cause I truly believe in having them two scoops—if you know what I mean—roundly and firmly in place. 
    Having a small chest is no good: men seem to like girls with boobs that bulge out. It seems to make an awful lot of difference, especially at first sight, which you can always tell by them customers, drooling."

This is a flashback to the time Anita, the young woman in My Own Voice, first laid eyes on Lenny, a man much older than her, and married. A few minutes later she finds herself fired from her job, on account of kissing him--and an hour later, they are alone in her mother's one-bedroom apartment:

"He turned to me the minute I untied my pony tail, and told me I reminded him of a girl he used to know, and would I like to dance. 
I stepped out of my shoes and into his arms, and before he could say anything I slipped out of my dress, too. I thought I looked, like, a little too slender in my panties, so I told him to close his eyes—but at this point, because of being so aroused, and trying so hard not to show it, I forgot all about them tissues at each side of my bra, which now and again, made a slight swoosh. 
Later I wondered if he wondered about that."


This is a charcoal on paper drawing. It is my easiest medium for drawing, as I am looking for light and shadows in the human form. The oil painting inspired by this drawing can be seen here

★ Love reading? Treat yourself to a family drama ★


"There is an air of mystery about the book that runs from the beginning to the final pages, but that also draws the reader in and makes the book difficult to put down"

2 comments: