Wildly, Albert looked around the room but dared not move for fear of Marie's tearing his hair out. His eyes became wet and he didn't know what to do with his arms. "M—Mommy, puh—please." Albert tried to stroke her cheek above his head but she snapped her head out of his reach and yanked his hair even harder. "I'm's—s—sorry, s—s—sorry," he gasped. Marie's face was quivering, her eyes nearly closed, her top lip disappeared into a thin white line of tension. She could feel his emaciation. The sight of his ribs sticking out even beneath his polo shirt chilled her with disgust. She wrenched him away from her, hurling him onto his bed, but he was up like a shot, flattening himself against a wall like a hunted animal. The cartoon on television exploded in star patterns, which cleared away to reveal a gunpowder-blackened coyote.

"Turn that goddamn thing off!" she screamed. With a wail Albert dove for the set, clicked it off and raced back to his spot. "Why do you hate me, all of us so much? I say, 'Albert, eat, Albert, eat, Albert, eat, please, Albert, eat, you're so skinny.' The doctor, no! No, you break everybody's heart, everybody who loves you, you break their heart. They look at you, and they wanna puke! Yeah! Yeah! Do you know last week your Aunt Phyllis was in tears! In tears! She said God forgive me, Marie, every time I see him so skinny like that I wanna vomit."

"No!" Albert screamed. The vision of his favorite aunt in tears over his selfish skinniness made him bray in anguish. He sank to the floor, rocking back and forth.

Marie's voice dropped to a whisper. "Why do you do this to us, Albert? What pleasure do you get out of torturing us? I beg you to eat. I cook for you anything. I walk and buy and I cook and pray to God please God let him like it, let him eat." Marie knelt on the floor, raising her clasped hands to the ceiling, threw her head back and bellowed, "God! God! What did I do, God? Why am I punished?"

"Mommy!" Albert ran in place again. His face was red and twisted with grief, his cheeks spattered with tears. "Mommy, I'll eat! I'll eat! Oh, Mommy, I swear to God I'll eat, I'll eat." He ran to the kitchen and ran back with a box of rice. "Look! Look!" He jammed a fistful of uncooked rice in his mouth. Marie ignored him, her eyes closed in prayer. Albert gagged and spit up rice and bile over the floor. Marie straightened in disgust. Albert grabbed for her legs.

"Don't touch me!" she screamed. She bared her teeth and pulled her hair. "I'm leaving! Forever! I can't stand you!" She left the room, slamming the door in his face.

"Mommy!" he screamed, opening the door, chasing his mother through the apartment and clutching the rice box. Marie ran into the foyer, grabbed a full-length fake fur coat and tan suitcase from the hall closet. "Mommy, look, I'm eating! I'm eating! Look! Look!" He blubbered and gagged, stuffing rice in his mouth, spitting out as much as he was swallowing. Albert grabbed her robe as she tried to pull on the coat. She shoved him onto the floor.