Circle

I was early for my cleaning.

“Go outside and practice then,” said a woman with her head buried in a glossy fashion magazine. “I’ll call you when they’re ready.”

A girl got up, fixed me with her steel gray eyes, shrugged and went out. Spring air rushed in as the door closed.

“They’ve made me wait for an hour,” the said glancing up. “Do you know how hard it is when you have children?” Her thin hands pulled a cell phone out of a shiny jet black leather bag. “Maybe I should call him and tell him I’ll be late. This always happens to me.”

I watched her daughter doing cartwheels on the lawn. Her silver shoes reflected bright sun.

“I don’t have kids.”
“You don’t want them, believe you me.”
“Yes, I imagine the pain and sacrifice is unbearable.”
“You don’t know the half of it.”

A young boy paced the waiting room.

“Then they told me they couldn’t take care of my child. They wouldn’t look at her cavities immediately.”

The boy had a plastic bag over his shoulder.

“What do you have in your bag?”
“Stuff.”
“What kind of stuff?”
“Oh, lot’s of things.”
“May I see what you have?”

He pulled out a thick pen with notches and swirling colors and handed it to me.

“How does this work?” I asked.
“Push the button there,” he said, “and it will turn on.”
“What does it do?” I asked, pushing the button — it started vibrating.

I thought of a dentist’s drill. The more you drill the more you bill. I looked into his green eyes under his baseball cap with an embroidered wizard holding an 8—ball and pool cue surrounded by lightning.

“Do you have any paper?” I asked.
“Sure, right here.”

“I have my Moleskine,” I said reaching into my satchel.
“You are well prepared,” his mother said.
“Inspiration doesn’t wait.”

I doodled away in blue color. The pen danced on the page.

“Thank you for sharing this wonderful pen with me,” I said when the assistant called me for my appointment. Her son accepted his pen, put it in his bag with the rest of his stuff and started playing with his toy cars.

I turned to the boy’s mother. “I’m sorry you had a bad experience here. Take a deep breath and relax when you release your anger.”

“All I know is this has been a complete waste of time.”