cracked cement

the tree hangs over the driveway. apples drop on the cracked cement all afternoon. they hit with a wet thud and the red skins split open. brown pulp leaks out. the wasps find them first. then the old woman from downstairs shuffles out in a bathrobe. she picks up the smashed ones and drops them in a paper sack. a wasp crawls across her thumb. she doesn't even swat it. she just goes back inside. the screen door slams shut.