The Black Donnellys ficlet: there are basement corners
there are basement corners
the black donnellys, kate (kate/dokey, kate/huey), r, 592 words, spoilers up to the world will break your heart, for falseeeyelashes, just because i can.
and don’t look at me, eh? kate/dokey is fascinating. completely fascinating.
For the first time in years, Dokey takes the fourth or fifth dance.
assholes are cheap today
cheaper than yesterday
small ones are half a crown
sitting up or lying down
tori amos, assholes are cheap today
*
They called her Katie.
Katie with the golden hair, bright blue eyes, and wicked, raspy laugh. And the boys would laugh when she grinned wildly.
Then there was Dokey Farrell and his Cadillac.
*
Katie’s Ma is a neighborhood mother.
- hail mary, full of grace and baby, please close your legs.
*
Huey knew.
No, Huey knew.
This is her room, in her memory: crumpled tissues to the side, a bag with little boxes spilling onto the bathroom counter, and a record, the record, baby, please don’t cry.
“I’m pregnant,” she says softly, cheeks stained.
Huey, at twenty, is still somber: “I’ll take care of it.”
*
She loses the baby. And falls out of love.
Dokey kills a man in the spring instead.
*
Ma knows.
Katie becomes Kate and fights to move into the city. Big dreams, little girl, pictures to put herself through school. Dokey used to say: my girl’s got tits.
In the future, she’s going to be a teacher.
*
Some nights (and mornings too), she remembers.
No, it’s not just a memory. She craves the before, sixteen and wild, and promises on her throat.
You don’t understand what it was like to be Dokey Farrell’s girl, the neighborhood watches you with a misunderstood awe. But most of all, it’s the Cadillac, the come sticking to her thighs, and even then, his mouth between her breasts.
It was a different kind of high.
*
Huey finds her.
And there’s coffee.
Her laughter is softer now, tired, and she reaches over for his hands as they laugh and remember these were the days. It’s wistful, almost, but remember, their neighborhood, there was never that chance.
“Mom would really like to see ya again,” he says, grinning sheepishly. “Dinner?
Her lips quiver amusement and she leans back- it’s SoHo, pictures pay a lot these days, you see.
“Okay.”
*
Strawberries layer a cake, a bakery from the neighborhood, and there’s still church bells singing in her ears. Steely Dan is Huey’s poison, she’s still just a regular rolling stone.
For the first time in too many years, Dokey takes the fourth or fifth dance. His hand presses against her hip, finger curling in the fabric of her dress. His mouth skims against her throat, a tattoo of lies.
“Congratulations,” he murmurs
Her fingers tug at his jacket. “Thanks,” she breathes, turning her gaze, and the air thickens to dizzy around her.
He smirks. “Be seein’ ya, Katie.”
*
We’re going to spin forward to the wake in just a second, but here, pause for snapshots and moments:
[1.] She won’t tell you how she fucked Dokey in her bed, on Huey’s side, and how you’re always going to be mine is the only she remembered afterwards, come sticking between her thighs.
[2.] She won’t tell you how she came to hate him too, progression thickens over years, spinning into conversation exchanges- she might tell you about Christmas, later, drunk on good scotch and how she rode him in the back of his Mercedes.
[3.] Huey wasis a good father. Talking about Matthew is out the question (reader’s note: this is a return to sixteen and spilling pregnancy tests, but the second not the first), so stay away.
- this is for later, all these things, but right now, you have a history, things to work with and our fathers to ignore.
*
When she gets the news, there was a split second.
A split second.
I gave birth to Cain and Abel, Mrs. Farrell used to sigh.
end.
the black donnellys, kate (kate/dokey, kate/huey), r, 592 words, spoilers up to the world will break your heart, for falseeeyelashes, just because i can.
and don’t look at me, eh? kate/dokey is fascinating. completely fascinating.
For the first time in years, Dokey takes the fourth or fifth dance.
assholes are cheap today
cheaper than yesterday
small ones are half a crown
sitting up or lying down
tori amos, assholes are cheap today
*
They called her Katie.
Katie with the golden hair, bright blue eyes, and wicked, raspy laugh. And the boys would laugh when she grinned wildly.
Then there was Dokey Farrell and his Cadillac.
*
Katie’s Ma is a neighborhood mother.
- hail mary, full of grace and baby, please close your legs.
*
Huey knew.
No, Huey knew.
This is her room, in her memory: crumpled tissues to the side, a bag with little boxes spilling onto the bathroom counter, and a record, the record, baby, please don’t cry.
“I’m pregnant,” she says softly, cheeks stained.
Huey, at twenty, is still somber: “I’ll take care of it.”
*
She loses the baby. And falls out of love.
Dokey kills a man in the spring instead.
*
Ma knows.
Katie becomes Kate and fights to move into the city. Big dreams, little girl, pictures to put herself through school. Dokey used to say: my girl’s got tits.
In the future, she’s going to be a teacher.
*
Some nights (and mornings too), she remembers.
No, it’s not just a memory. She craves the before, sixteen and wild, and promises on her throat.
You don’t understand what it was like to be Dokey Farrell’s girl, the neighborhood watches you with a misunderstood awe. But most of all, it’s the Cadillac, the come sticking to her thighs, and even then, his mouth between her breasts.
It was a different kind of high.
*
Huey finds her.
And there’s coffee.
Her laughter is softer now, tired, and she reaches over for his hands as they laugh and remember these were the days. It’s wistful, almost, but remember, their neighborhood, there was never that chance.
“Mom would really like to see ya again,” he says, grinning sheepishly. “Dinner?
Her lips quiver amusement and she leans back- it’s SoHo, pictures pay a lot these days, you see.
“Okay.”
*
Strawberries layer a cake, a bakery from the neighborhood, and there’s still church bells singing in her ears. Steely Dan is Huey’s poison, she’s still just a regular rolling stone.
For the first time in too many years, Dokey takes the fourth or fifth dance. His hand presses against her hip, finger curling in the fabric of her dress. His mouth skims against her throat, a tattoo of lies.
“Congratulations,” he murmurs
Her fingers tug at his jacket. “Thanks,” she breathes, turning her gaze, and the air thickens to dizzy around her.
He smirks. “Be seein’ ya, Katie.”
*
We’re going to spin forward to the wake in just a second, but here, pause for snapshots and moments:
[1.] She won’t tell you how she fucked Dokey in her bed, on Huey’s side, and how you’re always going to be mine is the only she remembered afterwards, come sticking between her thighs.
[2.] She won’t tell you how she came to hate him too, progression thickens over years, spinning into conversation exchanges- she might tell you about Christmas, later, drunk on good scotch and how she rode him in the back of his Mercedes.
[3.] Huey wasis a good father. Talking about Matthew is out the question (reader’s note: this is a return to sixteen and spilling pregnancy tests, but the second not the first), so stay away.
- this is for later, all these things, but right now, you have a history, things to work with and our fathers to ignore.
*
When she gets the news, there was a split second.
A split second.
I gave birth to Cain and Abel, Mrs. Farrell used to sigh.
end.