“And look at you.” He smiled at Lee Ann. “You’re a hottie.”
She laughed and made a small curtsy. “Law, sir, now you’re just turning my head.”
Lee Ann was good at flirting. It seemed to come naturally to her. Why couldn’t I ever think of anything clever to say to a boy? Maybe it was something you were supposed to learn from your mom.
Denny cleared his throat then. He was eyeing Matt with distaste. Maybe I’d been wrong about his attitude toward Lee Ann. Or maybe he just didn’t like not being the center of attention.
Lee Ann introduced the boys, then put her hand on Matt’s arm and said, in her soft, breathy voice, “How ’bout you walk me and Judy home?”
And so we left, the three of us, without buying a thing. Matt strode along between Lee Ann and me, smiling the whole time.
“Matt’s going to Howe this fall,” I said. It was the only thing I could think of.
“Oh, good!” Lee Ann cooed. “You’ll love it. And everyone will be so glad to have you back.”
“If anyone even remembers me,” he said.
“Oh, trust me. We all remember you.” Lee Ann laughed. “Remember when you poured sugar in Miss Warren’s gas tank, and her car wouldn’t run?”
“Oh, and when you left the bottle of mouthwash on Mr. Barr’s desk?” I laughed. Matt had been a prankster back then.
He laughed. “Yeah, those were good times.”
“Well, I can’t wait to see what you’re going to do now,” Lee Ann purred, touching his arm.
Matt shook his head and grinned. “Nope,” he said. “I’m strictly on the straight and narrow these days. No pranks for me.”
Lee Ann laughed again, as if he were joking. But I could see from his face he was being serious.
“Why?” I asked. “What happened?”
“It’s a long story,” he said. “Let’s just say I found religion.”
Lee Ann stared at him blankly. “Seriously? You’ve gotten religion?”
He smiled and shoved at her shoulder. “Still Miss Literal,” he said. “I mean I had to grow up while we were in Kentucky. My mom was in school, and she didn’t have time to spend in the principal’s office every week because of some stupid prank I’d pulled.”
“His mom is going to teach at 57,” I told Lee Ann.
“Oh, God.” She grimaced. “That’s just what the world needs ... another goddamned teacher.”
She was joking. I knew that. But Matt didn’t. His smile faded.
“She’s worked really hard to be a teacher,” he said. “She’s gonna be a good one.”
Lee Ann just laughed again. “If you say so,” she said.
I could see that she’d hurt his feelings. But I didn’t know what to say to make it right.
At the corner, Matt stopped and said, “Well, I gotta go home.”
Lee Ann made a pouty face. “Really? I thought you were going to walk us home.”
He stood a minute, undecided. Lee Ann touched his arm lightly. “Come on,” she said. “Come to my house and hang out with us for a while.”
He shrugged and grinned, then continued walking with us. Lee Ann chattered happily on about Howe High School, where we would all be sophomores in the fall.
“Judy and I will show you all around. It’s pretty big, but you’ll be okay. Just don’t let anyone try to sell you an elevator pass. There is no elevator.”
“Yeah,” I said. “But Lee Ann paid ten bucks for a pass last year.”
She shoved my shoulder. “You told me to.”
We sat on Lee Ann’s front porch, drinking lemonade and talking until late afternoon.
“I gotta go home,” I said finally.
“Yeah, me too,” Matt said. “I’ll walk you.”
Lee Ann’s eyes widened, and she smiled at me.
“Well, don’t be a stranger,” she said. “Now you know where I live.”
Matt and I walked to my house in silence. I couldn’t think of anything to say.
“Lee Ann hasn’t changed much,” he said after a while.
“Yeah, same old Lee Ann.”
“But you’ve changed.”
“Me? How?” I asked.
“You used to be real shy,” he said. “Like you were afraid of everything. You don’t seem like that anymore.”
I smiled at him. “Well, you know what it’s like. I mean, I was practically the only person I knew whose parents were divorced. And my mom ...” I faltered, unsure what to say.
“I know,” he said. “I felt that way, too, after my dad left. In Lexington, I didn’t know anyone whose parents were divorced, either.”
“Do you ever see your dad?” I asked.
“No.” He shook his head. “Not in a long time. He moved to Florida and got married right after the divorce. Now he’s got a new kid.”
“I’m sorry,” I said. “That sucks.”
“Yeah.” He sighed. Then he smiled. “But Mom is doing great. I’m really proud of her, finishing school and all.”
“This is my house,” I said, stopping at the driveway.
“Is it just you and your dad?” he asked.
“Yeah, at least for now. My dad’s been dating this woman for a while, though. I’m afraid he’s gonna marry her.”
“You don’t like her?”
“She’s okay, I guess. But she’s kind of like an overgrown cheerleader.” I sighed unhappily.
“Well,” he said. “I’d better go home. I’ll see you around.”
Just then my father pulled his car into the driveway, honking and waving.
“Hey, kiddo, how was your day?” he asked as he closed the car door.
“Okay,” I said. “This is Matt. He used to be in my class at 57. He just moved back from Kentucky.”
“Hi, Matt.” Daddy shook his hand.
“Hey,” Matt mumbled.
“Judy and I are getting pizza for dinner. Do you want to join us?” Daddy said.
“No, thanks,” Matt replied, his cheeks reddening slightly. “I’ve got to get home. My mom’s expecting me.”
“See you,” I said.
“Yeah, bye,” he said, turning and loping down the sidewalk in long strides.
“So”—Daddy grinned at me—“is he anyone special?”
Now it was my cheeks turning red.
“No, Dad, geez, he’s just a guy I used to know. He moved away in the fifth grade when his parents got divorced and now he’s back. Lee Ann and I ran into him at Smoots.”
“Ah, Smoots,” Daddy said, shaking his head. “Did Lee Ann make any progress today?”
I laughed. Daddy knew all about Lee Ann’s crush on Denny. I told him most things. Not everything, of course, but definitely more than Lee Ann told her parents.
“I didn’t think so,” I said. “But Denny didn’t seem real thrilled when Matt showed up, so maybe he’ll start noticing her now.”
Daddy shook his head and laughed. “She’s a little bit boy-crazy, isn’t she?”
“Yeah,” I said. “But she’s not slutty or anything.”
He raised his eyebrows at me. “I wish you wouldn’t talk like that. It makes you sound ... trashy.”
“Sorry. I just wanted you to know that she’s not like that.”
“I know she’s not,” he said. “If she was, you wouldn’t be hanging around with her, right?”
“Right,” I said.
I wondered what he would think if he knew about the pot in my closet. Like I said, I told him most things, but definitely not everything.
“How ’bout that pizza?” he asked. “I’m starved.”
33
Two days later, Lee Ann and I returned to the abandoned house by the railroad tracks. We brought along a flashlight and a stepladder from Lee Ann’s garage.
The house didn’t look so scary in the daylight, just sad and abandoned. We perched the ladder beneath the broken window and climbed inside. Lee Ann switched on the flashlight and swept it around the room. It was mostly empty, with broken glass scattered beneath
the window and an old mattress on the floor.
“What’s that?” Lee Ann whispered, focusing the light on the mattress. Something dark stained the surface.
“I don’t know, maybe blood?”
“Gross!” She took a step backward, moving the light along the walls. “Let’s see what’s in the other rooms.”
We wandered through the house, whispering in the empty rooms.
“This could work for your business,” Lee Ann said. “No one ever comes down here.”
“I don’t know,” I said. “I’m not sure I want to hang out here. And the neighbor might notice people climbing in and out the window.”
“Maybe,” she agreed. “But you don’t have anyplace else. You can’t deal out of your house. Your dad would figure that out pretty fast, I bet.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “But I still don’t think this place will work. It’s creepy.”
“You should bring Trent and see what he thinks.”
When we had wandered through every room, we walked back to the bedroom with the old mattress. Lee Ann knelt in front of it, training the light on the dark stain.
“It looks like blood,” she said.
“No, I don’t think so. More like pee.”
“Gross,” she said again. “If you set up shop in here, you’re gonna have to get rid of that.”
We climbed out the window and headed toward home, carrying the stepladder.
“Hey!”
Matt waved from across the street. “What are you guys doing?”
“Nothing,” I said quickly. I did not want to tell him about the house or my business. I didn’t think he’d approve.
“What’s with the ladder?”
“Uh,” I stammered.
“We rescued a kitten from a tree,” Lee Ann said, smiling. She was good at coming up with lies on the spot.
“Cool,” he said, falling into step with us. “I have a cat.”
“Aw,” Lee Ann said. “Can we see it?”
“Sure, I guess.” Matt smiled at her. “Do you want to come now?”
“Okay.” She smiled back. We walked to his house, a little bungalow on Butler Avenue.
“Hey, Mom,” he called as we walked in. “I’m back.”
A woman emerged from the kitchen, dish towel in hand, and smiled at us.
“Hello,” she said.
“This is Judy and Lee Ann,” Matt said. “They went to school with me at 57.”
“It’s nice to meet you,” she said. “You’ll have to excuse the mess; we’re still unpacking.”
The living room was filled with boxes, some open and others still taped shut.
“They want to see JoJo,” Matt said.
“I think he’s upstairs,” his mother said. “He hasn’t come downstairs since we moved in. I think he’s freaked out. Do you guys want a Coke?”
“No, thanks,” Lee Ann said.
“Okay, well, I have to get back to unpacking the kitchen.”
We went upstairs and Matt began calling, “Here, JoJo. Here, kitty, kitty.”
After a minute or two, a small gray cat emerged from a bedroom. He stared at us with unblinking eyes, then meowed. Matt scooped him up and scratched his head.
“Mom got him for me when we moved to Kentucky,” he said. “So I wouldn’t be lonely.”
He laughed, but it sounded like a sad laugh.
“Were you lonely?” I asked.
“Yeah, at first. I missed my friends and my dad.”
“You said your dad’s in Florida, right?” Lee Ann asked. “Do you ever go see him? I love Florida.”
“I went once,” he answered, holding the cat while I scratched its ears. “That was right after the divorce, before he got married again.”
“Do you like his new wife?” Lee Ann asked. I stared at her, wishing she would stop asking questions. I was sure Matt didn’t want to answer them.
“She’s okay, I guess. She’s got two kids, and then they had a kid together. I’ve only seen him once.”
“Judy’s mom got remarried and had a baby, too,” she said. “A boy.”
“Yeah?” He looked at me. “How old is he?”
I had to think a minute. How old was Kamran now?
“I guess he’s three now,” I said finally. “I haven’t seen him since he was one.”
Matt nodded his head. “So you don’t see your mom much?”
I shook my head, wishing to God Lee Ann hadn’t started this conversation.
“She’s in India,” Lee Ann announced. “She lives in a commune or something. What’s it called, Judy?”
“It’s an ashram,” I muttered. I wanted to strangle her now. She knew I didn’t like to tell people about Mama.
“Wow,” Matt said. “So she’s like a Hindu?”
“Yeah,” I said. I was surprised he would know that.
“Well, at least she’s something,” he said. “My dad’s just a prick.”
We all laughed, but I could see it hurt Matt to say that.
“We’d better go home,” I said. I wanted to stop the conversation.
“Why?” Lee Ann said. “It’s not even four.”
“I’ve got stuff I have to do,” I said, edging toward the stairs.
“Okay,” Matt said. He put the cat down and it ran up the hallway and into the room it had come out of.
We walked downstairs and he held the front door open for us.
“I’ll see you around,” he said.
“Come by sometime,” Lee Ann said, smiling.
“Why did you want to go?” she hissed at me as soon as we were out of the house.
“Why did you tell him all that stuff about my mom? You know I hate that!”
“I didn’t think you’d mind,” she said. “His dad did the same thing, you know.”
I kept walking, not looking at her.
“Okay, I’m sorry,” she said, touching my arm. “I shouldn’t have told him.”
I slowed my pace and took a deep breath.
“It’s okay,” I said. It wasn’t okay, but I knew she really was sorry. We walked in silence. A car drew alongside us.
“Hey, Lee Ann!”
It was Denny, leaning out the driver’s side window, grinning at her.
“Oh, hi, Denny,” she purred, smiling back at him.
“Want a lift?”
She looked at me, clearly delighted.
“Go ahead,” I said. “I’m gonna walk.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah,” I said. “You go ahead.”
She gave me a quick hug and climbed into the car. She waved as they pulled away.
I walked half a block and stopped. We had left the stepladder at Matt’s. I knew Lee Ann’s dad would be mad if he realized we’d taken it.
Sighing, I turned around and walked back toward Matt’s house. We had left the ladder on the front porch. Maybe I could retrieve it and leave without even seeing him.
“Hi,” he said, walking toward me on the street. He was carrying the ladder. “You guys forgot this.”
“Thanks,” I said, taking the ladder from him. “I was just coming back for it.”
“Where’s Lee Ann?” He looked around.
“She got a ride with a friend.”
“The guy from the store?” He smiled as he asked it.
“Yeah, how’d you know?”
“I saw him parked across the street when you guys left. I think he was waiting for her.”
I shook my head. “I guess he finally noticed her, after all.”
He fell into step beside me.
“I’m sorry she asked you all that stuff about your dad,” I said, not looking at him.
“It’s okay,” he said. “I used to get uptight about it, but now I figure it’s his problem, not mine. I mean, I’m not the one who screwed up. He is.”
I looked at him then, and he smiled.
“You don’t like to talk about your mom, do you?” he asked.
“Not really,” I said. “It’s just so weird, you know
? I mean, she left us and moved to some commune in Kentucky. Then she almost went to Jonestown, you remember? The commune with all the crazies who killed themselves? Yeah, she was part of that church. And now she’s left her second husband and kid and is living on an ashram in India. It’s just ... weird.”
“Yeah,” he agreed. “But that’s her problem, not yours. You didn’t do any of that stuff.”
“I guess.”
“And your dad seems normal.” He smiled. “I mean, he seems like a nice guy.”
“He is,” I agreed. “Your mom seems nice, too.”
“Yep, she’s great.”
We walked in silence for a minute, then turned the corner onto University.
“Do you want to come in?” I asked when we reached my house.
“I can’t,” he said. “I’ve got to help Mom with unpacking.”
“Well, thanks for walking me home.”
“No problem,” he said. He smiled at me. “It beats unpacking.”
I laughed and set the stepladder down on the porch.
“So, I’ll see you around,” he said, turning to leave.
When I opened the door, I saw Daddy sitting in a chair by the window, watching Matt walk away. He smiled at me.
“No one special, huh?”
“Shut up, Dad.”
He grinned as I walked up the stairs to my room.
34
On the first day of our sophomore year, Lee Ann arrived at my house early so she could change her clothes and put on makeup. Then I twisted her hair into a French braid.
She studied herself critically in the mirror.
“God, I’m so fat,” she said, frowning at her image.
“No, you’re not,” I said, slapping at her arm.
She turned to look at her profile, sucking in her stomach.
“I wish I had your figure,” she said, putting her hand on her belly. “Or at least your flat belly.”
“Yeah, but you wouldn’t trade those boobs for anything, and you know it.”
She laughed then, exhaling deeply.
“Let me put some makeup on you,” she said.
“No way,” I replied.
She just sighed and shook her head.
“You know, you’d be really pretty if you did something with your hair and wore a little makeup. Not much, just a little blush maybe, and some mascara. And if you got some new clothes.”
Lee Ann wore skin-tight jeans and a baby-doll top with a low neckline. I had on my usual cargo pants and T-shirt.
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