The Adventures of Captain Imperfecto : Peering through the Window

Sunday, July 15, 2012

Peering through the Window

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July 15th, 2012

I glance out the window watching my son Nico climb the six foot wood, stockade fence, trying to make his great escape. I can’t help but smirk when I see his little head pop up from the portions of the wood slats. Parts of his black hair peaking over the top, just before I see his beady brown eyes pier over the top. He shifts them left and right, looking for the perfect spot to climb over as he looks for the guards, or in this case his daddy.

I sit on the couch, my knees placed on the cushions, my butt resting on my ankles leaning forward with my chin on the windows ledge. I duck my head low as I peek out the window hoping he won’t see me. I laugh every time I see his little head bob up and down over the fence like a fisherman’s bobber in the water, as the fish tease the line below the surface.

I continue my gaze until I notice the tape that is placed over the glass of the window frame. The spot one of the boys broke when they threw a toy. Mimie, my wife, had placed clear packaging tape over the crack to hold it in place. The tape holding the glass together like a protector against the wind during a hurricane.

I run my hands across the edge of the tape. Feeling the edges and the length. Tracing it over and over with my finger, imagining Mimie sitting here in my very place. Struggling with the spool of 3M tape, trying to dig the edge out with her nail. Pulling it from the side as it tears down the middle dividing it in two. The frustration of getting the perfect piece that will fit perfectly over the crease.

I imagine my hands gliding over the tape in the same manner that she did. I rub my hand back and forth, trying to feel any excessive sensation that may have been left over from the friction she created when she was laying the strip flat, rubbing her hand in that same spot. There isn’t much there because this happened months ago but I can picture it in my mind and it brings a smile to my face, thinking about my hand and her hand in that very place.

I count the rows of tape she had to use to reinforce it and chuckle at the excessive amount. I can still remember the conversation we had over the incident, but it never equated to the way I am reminiscing.

“Nico broke the window today.” Mimie said as I walked through the front door from a long day of work.

“Really? How?” I said as I walked towards the kitchen never giving it a second look.

“He threw a ball and it cracked. But like MacGyver, I fixed it with just a little tape.” She said with a happy tone in her voice.

I started to remove my gun belt and walked to the window and stare.

“Nice tape job. Those crazy kids.”

That was the extend of the conversation. I never thought I’d think of it in more detail now. The tape staring at me like history, drawn on a caveman’s wall. I examine the layers of tape like a professor documenting a valuable piece of time. I picture her face working hard on her project, what was on her mind? What did she say to him? The markings documenting that she was there too in this time and place.

I know there will always be reminders that I will have to face. The broken window reminds me that today marks the fourth month she’s been gone. It is amazing how life just moves on. I’ll laugh today while looking at this piece of history, using Mimie’s tape as an X to mark Nico’s location as he peeks over the fence so he can escape. Little does he know me and his mom are lying in wait.

*Taking On the Run, a two part series scheduled for July 16th, 2012 at 4:00pm eastern and Part II 4:00 pm July 17th, 2012

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