Earwax like this

“How long have you been getting cold sores on your lips?” I ask.

“Ohhhh… I’ve been getting them my whole life” She replies.

“I see.” I’m taking notes.

“And I gave them to both of my sons,” she adds.

I put that thought away for later pondering.

“My sons keep licking their lips.” she goes on.

She’s licking her lips now to show me.

I look down at my notes. “I see,” I say.

“That’s how you get them you know.”

I look up again. She’s stopped licking her lips. She’s just looking at me now.

I hold another thought and ask, “What do you use to treat the sores?”

“I put peroxide on them and then I put on alcohol.”

Ouch, I think.

“I see.” I say.

I keep writing.

“Have you ever used any antiviral creams?” I ask.

“Sometimes I use ear wax.”

I look up and look at her like, did I hear what I think I heard…

“Earwax,” she repeats looking at me. “I get a piece of ear wax like this.”

She’s putting her little finger in her ear digging.

I’m watching her now.

She’s digging.

“I get a little piece on my pinky like this..”

She’s showing me her little finger.

I look at her pinky.

“Then I rub it in.”

She’s rubbing her little finger on her lip.

“Like this.” She says.

Then she smiles.

“Why are you laughing?”

Then we’re both laughing.

Los Angeles 2017