Bad News in a Red Sweater
John added his own wad of crumpled tens and twenties to the stack his sister had left on the coffee table. Every month, the same damn struggle: scraping up his half of the rent. If he could just find a better-paying job, he wouldn’t have to share this lousy basement apartment. He helped himself to a butterscotch from the candy dish his sister insisted on keeping on the coffee table, next to her fanned-out pile of women’s magazines. He stared blankly at the TV screen; then abruptly grabbed the remote and turned up the volume.
“Mary Jane, come in here quick,” he called out to his sister, his eyes fixed on the TV screen.
Mary Jane, her chubby body stuffed in a too-tight skirt, wiggled her way toward the television, concern engulfing her 27-year-old cherub face.
“See, I told you that guy was bad news,” John said, a superior smile spreading across his ruddy face.
The pompous TV anchor’s voice boomed: “Major drug arrests on the city’s East Side early this morning…” On-screen footage showed a lanky unshaven man being led by the police down the outside steps of a red-brick apartment building, his scruffy blond hair spilling into sleepy eyes.
“They should have let him shave first,” Mary Jane whispered. “Still, even unshaven, just look at how handsome my Benny looks on TV.” John turned away and grunted in disgust.
As footage showed a burly cop easing Benny into a police car, Mary Jane realized something else and jumped up and down, as if she were on The Price Is Right. “Look! Look,” she yelped gleefully. “He’s wearing the red sweater I bought him for his birthday!”
John looked at his sister in disbelief; once again she had completely missed the point.