Let's Do (Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction)

191 Pages·2004·0.65 MB·English

by  Rebecca Meacham

Let’s Do
Previous Winners of the Katherine Anne Porter Prize
in Short Fiction
Barbara Rodman,series editor
The Stuntman’s Daughter by Alice Blanchard
Rick DeMarinis,Judge
Here Comes the Roar by Dave Shaw
Marly Swick,Judge
(cid:1)
let’s
do
B Y R E B E C C A M E A C H A M
2004 WINNER, KATHERINE ANNE PORTER PRIZE IN SHORT FICTION
University of North Texas Press
Denton,Texas
© 2004 Rebecca Meacham
All rights reserved.
Printed in the United States of America.
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Permissions:
University of North Texas Press
P.O.Box 311336
Denton,TX 76203-1336
The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements of the American National
Standard for Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials,z39.48.1984.Binding
materials have been chosen for durability.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Meacham,Rebecca,1970-
Let's do / by Rebecca Meacham.
p.cm.
“2004 Winner,Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction.”
ISBN 1-57441-185-3 (pbk.:alk.paper)
1. Middle West—Social life and customs—Fiction. I.Title.
PS3613.E125L48 2004
813'.6—dc22
2004014252
Let’s Dois Number 3 in the Katherine Anne Porter Prize in Short Fiction Series
This is a work of fiction.Any resemblance to actual events or establishments or to per-
sons living or dead is unintentional.
Slightly different versions of these stories have appeared in the following publications:
“Trim & Notions”and “Let’s Do”in Indiana Review;“Simple As That”in The Journal;
“Good Fences”in Michigan Quarterly Review;“Worship for Shut-Ins”in West Branch;
“Weights and Measures”in Chelsea;“Tom and Georgia Come Over to Swim”in Beloit
Fiction Journal.
Cover image:Sherry Karver,“Off Broadway:Faces in the Crowd III”(2001),photo-
based oil painting.Reproduced courtesy of Lisa Harris Gallery,Seattle,Washington.
Text design by Carol Sawyer/Rose Design
contents
(cid:1)
acknowledgments vii
trim & notions 1
good fences 29
weights and measures 48
let’s do 63
the assignment 88
worship for shut-ins 109
tom and georgia come over to swim 134
simple as that 147
hold fast 161

acknowledgments
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F
or their encouragement, wit, and love,
I thank my mother, Ruth Meacham, and my father, David
Meacham.I am grateful for the kindness of my stepmother,Kay
Meacham,and the endless generosity of the Duemey,Meacham,
Rybak,and Santomauro families.
For sharing their stories and laughter, I thank my friends:
Kelly Wilson, Allison Redmon, Jaymi Shroder, Michelle Barr
O’Connor,Amy Brenner Cox,Christine Williams,Nicole Howard,
Katie Lloyd,the women of Whitehouse,and countless comrades
from McMicken Hall. I am grateful for the support and irrever-
ence of my colleagues at UW-Green Bay, who have made Wis-
consin a warm and wonderful place. Many thanks to the writers
who have influenced this collection, especially Vivé Griffith,
Jenn Gibbs, Cynthia Nitz-Ris, Alli Hammond, Julie Parham,
vii
viii acknowledgments
Francis Janosco, and Chip Gambill, all of whom, in one way or
another,brought me sandwiches when I was hungry.
For their insight and all-around brilliance, I thank Brock
Clarke,Erin McGraw,Tom LeClair,Amy Elder,and my mentors
at University of Cincinnati and Bowling Green State University.I
am deeply grateful to the editors who have given these stories
homes,especially Danit Brown,and to the folks at University of
North Texas Press,especially Karen DeVinney.Thanks to Jonis
Agee and Barbara Rodman for reading and welcoming this col-
lection.Special thanks to the Taft Foundation at the University of
Cincinnati,whose support made this book possible.
Finally, I thank my lucky stars for the love my husband,
Chuck Rybak, has brought into my life, and all the ways he has
built a quiet place for me to write.
trim & notions
(cid:1)
A
ll afternoon,I’ve watched boy after boy
impersonate middle-aged gamblers.I’m helping my friends Alan
and Geneva cast the Valley County High School musical. Alan
teaches English literature and Geneva teaches choir, while I’m a
K-through-6 art teacher next door at County Elementary. Alan
wants us to write evaluations in forms on our clipboards—he
brought clipboards—and we’re supposed to comment on each
student’s stage presence,appearance,vocal clarity,and so forth.It
seems fussy to me, but the County High Spring musical is a
pretty big deal.Everyone,especially the parents,goes a little nuts.
The last director was fired for putting on The Fantasticks, which
sounded like a superlative choice, until rehearsals got under way.
The show turned out to be some stripped-down, avant-garde
production—no splashy backdrops, no hot dance interludes, no
sweeping chorus numbers. The parents fumed that their kids
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