‘My Kingdom’

Yazmin Munoz, from Dallas, Texas, is a Mexican-American woman and oldest of thirteen from a single-mother household. Her identity and personal experiences with prevailing issues such as poverty, sexual assault, mental illness, and substance abuse shape both her writing and desire to befriend and uplift everyone in our community.

My Kingdom

“Here ye! Here ye! Thank ye for gathering together this evening. We have a special guest with us today, my fair sweet lady. Unexpected and very much welcome to the kingdom any day! Her sweet gifts come forth in accompaniment of the bakers most renowned confections!”

Gerald sat a bottle of syrup in the passengers seat, facing the windshield. His left hand held half of a dried out donut. Both of which were amongst the glorious treasures found along the days outing. Now he was home. The rain had started and the temperature dropped with the sun. The windshield and all of the other windows had a thick layer of fog. This was Geralds favorite moment of the day, settling in for the evening, to privacy and the most warmth he could get. He closed his eyes and leaned back with a deep breath. His mismatched socks kicked back, pushing his shoes under the seat next to two bottles that their necks partially sticking out. They were just in reach. He took one more bite of his maple coated treat before starting to whisper. 

“The king has returned, he sits on his throne, in his domain. It’s his. His domain. He owns it. This whole kingdom. No one else. They aren’t allowed into his kingdom. His kingdom. His domain. He owns it.”

Gerald stretched out his legs, wriggling his feet beyond the pedals at the floor and pressing his palms to the stained felt roof. When he opened his eyes, a bit of water dripped onto his face. The sunroof had tape around its seal. He thought to the last time it had opened to a bright sun and clear skies. The memory was cut short at the continued dripping of the water. He wiped his sticky fingers across his face. Reaching inside his heavy army green jacket, he pulled out a wadded up plastic grocery bag. A corner of the tape was already hanging down from the continued leak. He pulled it back gently to stuff the plastic bag up against the seal. He pressed his palm against the corner as he began turning around to look for his roll of tape. 

The syrup bottle remained in its place, the woman’s face staring straight ahead. A shadow passed the side of the vehicle, hardly visible by the faint beam of a nearby street light. Gerald froze in the drivers seat, but his eyes still shifted to the back seat. His possessions littered the entirety of the space. A stack of National Geographic magazines were level with the center consul. A small ice chest was squeezed in behind the passenger seat. A mass of jackets, shoes, and other clothes were packed in behind Geralds seat. The two back seats were filled with boxes, picture frames, an old VCR player, CD cases, several old dusty bowling trophies, and a faded globe with a tarnished brass base. The back window wasn’t even visible amongst the piles of books, maps, and papers stuff in every available nook. He placed his remaining bit of donut just in front of the steering wheel. The steering wheel then popped up at the pull of lever. Looking up at a line of figures on the dash, a Hawaiian hula dancer, a dinosaur fast food kids toy, a bendable Gumby, and a stuffed Tigger. 

“Order! Order! I will have order! It would appear that my kingdom has faced a bout of neglect in my absence. This is an embarrassment to me, an embarrassment. I must apologize to my fair sweet lady. Not just that, but there appears to be unwelcome guests about the moat outside my kingdom. I will have ORDER! It is clear now that my being present is of much more significant need than I realized. Everything would crumble here without me, thus I  must remain.”

Gerald paused just for a moment before flipping around dangling his front half into the back seat. Clothes and jackets were flying into the air. The rattle of a metal toolbox came soon after as his body kept shifting and he got closer to the floor of the vehicle. 

“SUCCESS, you fools!”

Gerald flopped back down in his seat with a very ancient looking roll of silver tape. He had it very close to his face now as he scratched at the edge attempting to get his nails under the once loose end. 

“Take note my subjects, as I must do everything myself, as always.”

Once he had gotten it free, he spent moment of silence patching the rest of the leaky corner. His hands reaching up patting at the new tape, he admired his handy work. Reaching over slightly with his left hand, the click of the overhead light brought an extended moment of admiration. The sun was completely gone now and the street light was unreliable. Gerald sat there in his kingdom and stared up at the sunroof, still patting at his repair. The overhead light flickered as though there was little time of it remaining. Geralds watery eyes could be seen in the glow, as could his crooked overbite, with two missing teeth on the left side. His eyes were opened wide, revealing deep wrinkles on his forehead. There were still donut crumbs on his chin. He clicked the light off. A set of headlights turned and illuminated the foggy windows again. 

Gerald reached for the door handle so fast. In one movement he had the door open and was outside of the car. He hobbled after the headlights, a vehicle that was nearly two blocks already. He was yelling, screaming at the car as thought they had personally wronged him. 

“Aaaaaaaaaaaah!! Aaaaaaaaaah! Stay out of my kingdom! Stay out, you!”

Spit and slobber shot out of Gerald’s mouth. Snot was dripping from his nose and tears came from his bloodshot eyes. His heavy breathing started to recede as he shrank back into himself there in the middle of the street. Looking side to side, checking his surroundings, his feet stumbled slightly in turning back towards the opened door of the car. Then he got worried about the rain and started mumbling to himself, hobbling back.

“My kingdom, my kingdom, my kingdom. Its mine, I lead it, I take care of it. Its my kingdom. No one else. They wouldn’t understand, I’ve come so far. We can still go far, as far as we want. Anywhere. Anywhere. Anywhere.”

He paused outside the open door. The rain became heavy again. There was a lot of rust  around the edges of the car. All of the tires were flat and the tail lights were smashed in. Spray paint across the trunk. There were several yellow envelopes under where a wiper blade should’ve been. The wind had accumulated a pile of trash and leaves beneath the front end. 

Gerald sank back into the drivers seat, his dark green coat had deepened in color due to being soaked now. The space wasn’t quite as warm anymore. He leaned his head back with his eyes closed. He had his right arm stretched out, fidgeting with the bottom of the syrup bottle. Gentle whispers floated about as the fog returned to the windows.

“My kingdom, my kingdom, my kingdom.”

Levi Himes was born and raised in Indiana. He currently resides and writes in Colorado with his wife Heather and their dog Birdy. Levi has published his first full length travel memoir The Good Vibe which is available now. He is currently working on his first full length fiction project. He is also actively exploring his abilities in the world of short fiction. His greatest pursuit in writing is the unraveling of perspectives throughout his stories.