Chapter 16
668 Words
Dear Bump,
Nick showed up yesterday afternoon.
Boone and I were outside building a jet with ice and snow. It looked more like a canoe, but we have a lot of imagination. I was Goose (always am) and Boone was Maverick (again) and we were tumbling down the sky at the speed of light, chasing bad guys, when David’s car pulled up in front of the Lunds’ yard.
“Nico!” Boone cried, scrambling to get to his feet. “Nicolai!”
The edges of the world vanished. I could only see Nick. His hair. It was black and shiny like the dark jelly beans I love. And it stood straight up on his head. Like the pictures of the Iroquois warriors in my history book.
Boone had fallen into Nick’s open arms. “Nico,” he kept saying. “Nico.”
Nick cracked a broken smile. His eyes were faded like his blue jeans. “Bunny boy.”
I wiped the snow off my coat, slipped my hat off, and got to my feet. “Hi…Nick.”
“Hello there, O’Reilly.” Nick’s voice was strained. “No fat lip today?”
I smiled, though I felt like crying. Why couldn’t I push my face inside his coat and tell him I didn’t care about anything or anyone anymore. Only him.
Nick swayed a little, as though he could barely carry his own weight. He glanced back at the car. In the driver’s seat, David was sitting still, staring at the steering wheel with dark and sad eyes. He looked worse than Nick. What happened to them out there?
Nick tossed his chin up at him, and David saluted him and then slowly drove off.
“Mom here?”
“No, she’s doing hair.”
Nick ran his hand over his grayish face. “Okay.” He swung his bag over his shoulder and walked up the front stairs.
Boone cried out. “Nico? Where d’you go all this time?”
I stiffened. Waited. Held my breath.
Nick plucked the door open. “Doesn’t matter,” he said without looking back at us. “Gonna crash now. Tired.”
I watched him go inside.
Boone shuffled back to our jet. “D’you see his hair?”
I nodded.
“Oh, boy,” Boone said with a half-smile. “Mom’s gonna freak.”
* * * *
Dear Bump,
Officer Di Paglio kissed Aunt Frannie on the mouth.
Right by the front door. Right under the porch light, too. What kind of a police officer kisses a girl on the mouth? I don’t believe it. Now when he comes by, he isn’t even wearing his blue uniform. Just a sweater and jeans. “Be back before dinner,” Aunt Frannie says before they slip out the door, giggling like those kids who ride the special bus to school.
Adults are so stupid. I’m going to do everything I can not to turn into one when I grow up.
I wonder what Dad is going to say about all this? Aunt Frannie said, “I might move in with Scott if he asks me to. Would that be okay, hon?”
Scott. That’s Officer Di Paglio’s first name. Scott. I don’t believe it.
“I can’t stay here with your mom and dad,” Aunt Fran said. “It isn’t right.”
Dad is going to be back on Friday. That’s in three days. On the phone, the other night, he told me he’d take Mom home from that place as soon as he set his suitcase by the door. “We’re gonna be a family again,” he promised. “Nobody’s gonna be going nuts on my watch, okay?”
Does he mean me or Mom?
Aunt Frannie keeps staring out the window. Even when she’s chopping celery. “Your dad’s real upset about things, Red. Real upset. No use in telling him about you know what.”
Why would I tell Dad anything about you know what?
- Writer
