Someone pulls the camera from me. Louise lets her bra drop to the floor. The one-arm man giggles between his teeth. She dances with a furious intensity, spinning like a dervish. She spins on one foot while the other leg is held high in the air. The transvestite joins in, dancing in a spinning motion while his boot heels tap along the worn linoleum floor.
Johnny approaches me. He sips his drink from a straw. I do not know if he is happy that Louise is dancing. His eyes are fixed on the transvestite. I also watch Louise and the transvestite bump hips and grind against each other as they dance. I tell him how I had just stayed with mother and father for the last few days and was surprised that I hadn’t seen him around the farm. I ask how things are going on the farm because he is supposed to help father out. He stares at me for awhile, blinking his eyes, his mouth moving as if wanting to say something, but words don’t come out. After another long sip from his drink, Johnny finally answers me. I can barely hear him as he mumbles, “Okay, I guess.” His mouth moves some more as if he wants to say something else. I wait for Johnny to speak. I am patient with him. But he doesn’t say another word and returns to sipping his drink. We watch Louise dance as her blonde hair whips in the air like a wild flame.
I leave the kitchen and head into the living room. It isn’t as bright as the kitchen. I walk around a nude man lying on the floor as a woman massages him. I go to the window and watch the torrential rain come down. Lightning flashes across the sky and lights up the muddy driveway and my car. I feel relieved it is raining. My anxiety is always at its highest before the rain comes. A fatigue overwhelms me. I want to sleep.
I go to the corner of the living room and sit on the floor. I struggle to keep my eyes open. I wonder how I will drive home when I’m feeling so sleepy. I do not want to sleep at my brother’s house while he has this party going on. My brother’s parties. I remember when father would come to them. By the middle of the night, father’s bony body would be stripped of all his clothes as he would stand on the kitchen table and let out a giggle while Louise planted kisses up and down his legs. My brother would sip his drink from a straw and quietly watch.