Not Alone

by Frederic Martin

  Pa Bill started serving casserole and passing the plates down the table. Sam took the first plateful from Pa Bill and turned to the right to pass it across Blue’s empty place to Ma Beth at the end of the table, and he nearly dropped the plate.

  Blue was sitting there.

  Sam froze with the plate hanging in mid-air and a look of surprise hanging on his face. The table fell silent. Everyone was staring at Blue as if maybe she wasn’t really there, because she hadn’t been there a moment ago. Or was she? It was like she materialized out of nowhere.

  Blue waited a moment and then took the plate carefully out of Sam’s hand and passed it to Ma Beth.

  The only one who didn’t seem surprised was Ma Beth. She kept her face passive with only the tiniest hint of a smile in the corner of her mouth, and turned and took the plate from Blue and said, “Thank you, Blue.” Ma Beth looked around the table with a look that was half disapproving and half amused. She said, “Whatever are you staring at?”

  That brought everyone back out of shock, and the table slowly resumed its prior activity until all the food was passed around. Dinner proceeded as it had a thousand nights before, full of talk and laughter and stories. Blue rotated into the family like many before her. She acted like she had been there all along. She still didn’t talk except for brief, to-the-point answers to questions, but apparently that was just Blue being Blue.

  Ma Beth shook her head as she ate and smiled to herself. Every single foster child had their own unique way of fitting themselves into the daily family routine, but none had made a seemingly miraculous materialization like this one did. Everything about this girl was different. Blue was special. Ma Beth could sense that, and she was looking forward to getting to know this intriguing person.

  8

  Summer Job

  Will watched the trembling drips of rain as the wind nudged them sideways across the car window. Behind the window was the blur of familiar houses and streets passing by. It distracted his groggy mind from his anger at having to get up at 7am, struggle into his clothes, cram some cereal into his mouth, and drag himself into the front seat to go to his first day at his summer job, which his dad announced at dinner last night had to start a week earlier than planned. Thanks a lot Dad, he thought. My world is on the verge of colossal change then you go and hit the giant pause button.

  He had argued about it, but his protests came off lame and empty. He just didn’t want to use his main argument: “Guess what Dad, we’re not the last ones! Blue’s a vox!” He wasn’t ready for that. He knew they would find out at some point, and that maybe he should be the one to tell them, but right now he wanted this secret to himself. Maybe it was selfish, but maybe the rules were a little different for this. Of course, Rose knew about the notes and the remote control incident, but Will had not told her about his “Hey” or his visit and Blue’s one-word reply “Okay”. He was guessing that the secret was safe for now.

  He would just have to play it by ear. Maybe he could slip down there after work. If not he would have to wait until his next free day. Fortunately, the job was only three days a week. He would have Friday through Monday off.

  He sighed and closed his eyes. Too groggy for this, he thought. The stupid thing was that he had actually been looking forward to the job before Blue came along. He was going to help his dad in the college science labs, cleaning and repairing all the equipment that gets used during the school year. His dad had a grant to do some research, and he used part of the grant to hire Will to help take care of the maintenance he himself usually had to do during the summer. His dad also promised Will that he could help out with some of the research. Will thought that was pretty cool, partly because he loved science and partly because he would actually get to spend some time with his dad.

  His dad was great, and Will didn’t have any complaints, but he wasn’t the totally engaged family guy like some of his friends’ dads. He would come to soccer games and basketball games, but he didn’t know much about sports and often shouted embarrassing, though well-intentioned, words of encouragement (“Great field throw after that foul on the kickoff, son!”). Where his friends’ dads were getting them the best sports equipment and giving them tips on how to play, Will’s dad was kind of lost in the sporting goods stores and often had to ask Will to settle for the less-than-best equipment—because of price more than anything else (“Gee, this Joe’s Sports glove seems pretty much the same as this Wilson glove, and a heck of a lot cheaper!”). Still, his dad was there for him and never balked at helping him out.

  “So tell me about this new girl, Blue,” said his dad. “I hear you’ve managed to have some contact where others have failed.”

  “Yeah, well you wouldn’t call it a lot of contact,” said Will, his eyes still closed. “It’s been all of a dozen words at most. She keeps it pretty much to the point.”

  “Ah, well, I hear she’s been through a lot,” said his dad. “But of course, who in the O’Day household has not?”

  Will opened his eyes and looked at his dad. “Do you know any of her background, Dad?” Will knew that his mom was involved with the state Department of Foster Care, the DFC, since she was a counselor at school. He hadn’t asked his mom because she couldn’t share that information, but his mom talked with his dad, and his dad was not as tight-lipped when it came to sharing information.

  “Hmm,” said his dad, taking a look at Will. “You know better by now than to ask for information like that.” But his voice was wavering. “Let’s just say that if you have any kindness in you, you would avoid asking her details about how she became an orphan.” He then gave Will a pointed look. “I know Ma Beth has shared that Blue lost her family in a fire. You should leave it at that, because that is traumatic enough.” He looked directly at Will. “Is that clear enough?”

  Great. Now he was more curious than ever. “Yeah, I suppose. Though not really.”

  His dad was quiet for a moment and then said, “Look, there are things I am doing at the lab that I think you will find very interesting. There are more than enough opportunities there to exercise your curiosity!”

  That first day at work was interesting but uneventful. Will spent a lot of time just sorting out the equipment on the lab benches and using a lab notebook to record what was missing or broken, then cleaning and putting away the rest. By the time he got home in the evening he was beat. He wasn’t used to getting up that early, and working eight hours straight was a grind; school was a breeze by comparison. He ate dinner and then plunked down on the sofa to watch TV with Rose, and within five minutes he was asleep. His mom had to wake him up so he could brush his teeth and go to bed.

  This went on for two more days and got a little easier, but still, by Friday Will was ready for a long weekend. Friday morning was glorious—no work! The only problem was, instead of lounging luxuriously in his bed late into the morning, his eyes popped open at 6 a.m. He tried to go back to sleep but soon gave up. It was pointless, he was wide awake and restless. Finally, he just got up and went down to breakfast.

  “Look who’s up early,” voxed Rose.

  “Mr. Hard Worker can’t sleep in anymore!” voxed his mom. They were sitting at the kitchen table and eating scrambled eggs and bacon.

  “Don’t talk and eat,” voxed Will back. This was a favorite joke of theirs because, of course, using vox they could talk and eat at the same time. Rose giggled because she laughed at everything.

  His mom continued out loud, “So Wu has been like a hungry cat getting in everyone’s way over at the O’Days. Apparently, without you around, he can’t find anything to do.”

  As if on cue, there was a knock at the door and without waiting, in bounced Wu. “Hey, Mrs. Woods. Hey, Rose. Hey, Will!” he said in a relieved voice. “How’s it feel to have a day off?”

  “Nice!” said Will. “Want some breakfast?”

  “Great!” said Wu. “I mean thanks! I’d love some.” As he was scooping up some eggs and a pile of bacon he went on, “You’ve really missed some
big happenings at our house.”

  Will wiped his plate down with a last piece of toast. “And you are going to tell us between bites, I’m guessing.”

  “Yeah,” said Wu. “The biggest thing is that on Monday night, Blue actually came down and ate dinner with us—and breakfast, lunch, and dinner on Tuesday! What did you write to her in that note?”

  Will was caught by surprise, but replied, “Well, I told her to start eating meals with you guys. She does everything I say now.”

  “Hah,” said Wu, only it came out, “whuh” because his mouth was full of egg.

  “You mean to tell us that this is the first time she has eaten with you this whole time?” asked Will’s mom.

  “Yeah, kind of a first. It turns out she kept dishes in her room so she could just come down, grab something out of the refrigerator, and slip back up to her room.” Wu couldn’t hide his admiration. “She still doesn’t talk much, though. I mean, we ask her questions, and she’ll answer, but only with the shortest possible answer. She certainly doesn’t encourage conversation.”

  “But it’s a start,” said his mom. “And that is encouraging news, Wu.”

  It was good news to Will, too. If Blue was finally venturing out of her bedroom, there would be more opportunity for him to talk to her face-to-face. He was beginning to regret his cowardice for not talking to her when he had the chance. After all, they had been alone and they could have talked or voxed freely. Now, he wasn’t sure what the opportunities would be.

  As Will and Wu walked down to the park, Wu filled Will in even more. “So Blue actually said “Hi” to me and asked if you and I were best friends, and before you ask, I said yes. At least you’re one of my best friends,” and then he thought, “And then she said not your only friend, but how did she know that?”

  Will caught Wu’s chiss, but just said, “Well, thanks, Wu, and you know you’re one of mine, too.”

  “Yeah, well, never take anything for granted, as they say,” said Wu. “So how is your job going?”

  The job is boring work is what it is, thought Will to himself. When his dad suggested it, he thought it would be cool, helping at a lab at the college. He didn’t realize how much grunge work there was to do in a science lab even at a small college like Westbury. Fortunately, they were done with most of the cleanup and organization that week.

  He told all this to Wu and Wu just said, “Well I guess I’ve been such a pain at home without you around that Ma Beth signed me up for a basketball camp.”

  “That’s cool, Wu,” said Will. “You are going to be a star by the time you are on varsity.”

  “Yeah, well . . .” said Wu.

  Blue watched Wu and Will walking down to the park. She was envious, and she thought maybe the time was right to ask Ma Beth if she could go with them. Hopefully she had shown that she had settled in this week.

  As she watched Wu’s tall form saunter down the hill, Blue reflected on her encounter with him the night before. She had been downstairs to brush her teeth and was going quietly back up her attic stairs. Just as she reached the top, she could hear Wu walking by in the hallway and then heard him pause. He said, “Hey Blue.” She knew he wasn’t used to getting a reply from her, and he would just continue down to his room, but this time, before he did, she turned and said, “Hey Wu.” Wu looked up at her in surprise. Blue continued, “Just get back from the park?”

  Wu smiled. “Yeah, I got in a little after-dinner basketball with some friends.”

  “With Will,” Blue said.

  Wu responded, “Yeah, we play a lot.” And in his mind, he went on, “. . . and usually only with Will.”

  Blue caught it. She said, “Will is a good friend.”

  “Yeah, the best,” said Wu. “And only,” he thought.

  “He is not your only friend you know,” said Blue.

  Wu laughed and said, “Yeah, well my other friends seem to be making themselves scarce then.” And then a puzzled look came over his face.

  “Well, you have one standing here,” she said, and she turned and went the rest of the way up to her landing. She could tell he was still standing at the foot of the stairs, so she stopped just before going in her room and looked back at him. He was looking up at her, the puzzled look still on his face, but when he saw her looking at him, he said, “Hey, thanks. You got one here, too.”

  That had been last night, and now she smiled as she remembered Wu’s reaction. It was nice to make a friend again. As she watched the boys disappear down the hill, she thought that maybe, just maybe, her destiny was not a life of isolation.

  9

  Blue Steps Out

  Will stared at the chore sign tacked to the refrigerator door as he munched on his cereal. It was held up by a brightly colored hummingbird magnet.

  It was a summer Saturday ritual: do your chore before anything else. He didn’t mind. He actually liked mowing the lawn. It didn’t take long, even with the ancient mower they had. It was a push mower and felt like it was made of lead, but it worked smoothly and quickly, and Will liked the scissor-like sound it made as he pushed it across the grass.

  He finished his breakfast and made quick work of the lawn. When he came back in, he crossed off the chore, grabbed an apple and yelled, “Park!” and headed back out the door. He heard a reply from deep in the laundry room, “Be back for dinner!” He yelled back, “Okay!” and was off. He didn’t bother to stop by at the O’Days, because he knew Wu would already be at the park. When he got there, however, he was surprised to see a whole pack of O’Days.

  Nate had come along, which almost never happened because he tended to hang out with a group of older kids. Will thought it would be interesting having Nate there. To most people Nate was intimidating and a little scary (and probably was if you got on the wrong side of him), but to his family and friends, he was a teddy bear. On the court, he never hogged the ball and gave everyone a chance, shouting encouragement. It was a good thing, because Nate was built like a tank.

  Will was also surprised to see Sam. Sam was a good kid, but not very coordinated and a bit of a nerd. He looked awkward on a basketball court, like a lost puppy in a shopping mall.

  The big shocker, though, was that Blue was there. He hadn’t noticed her at first, but there she was sitting cross-legged on a park bench near the basketball court. On her lap was an open book, which she was reading intently. Next to her on the ground was a backpack. Will set his bike down in the grass near her bench, and she looked up at him briefly, but then went back to her reading without saying anything, as if nothing out of the ordinary was happening.

  “Hey Blue, good to see you out and about.”

  She looked at him again but went right back to her reading.

  It didn’t feel like she was trying to put him off, so he continued, “What’s in your pack?”

  “Books,” she said.

  She didn’t smile or elaborate, she just answered the question. Wu was right, she may be communicating, but she wasn’t wasting any words. Or vox.

  He debated—should he try voxing her now? It didn’t seem like the time was right, but when would? There she was, right in front of him with no one else close by. Just as he was about to try, the guys from the court started calling for him to come play. Damn it. He gave her a last look, shrugged, and headed for the court.

  The game was a welcome distraction. It was goofy but fun—completely different than when he and Wu were playing one-on-one. They were playing two-on-two with Nate and Sam against Wu and Will. Sam would get the ball and do his best to dribble it, focusing extremely hard on the ball and kind of walking toward where he was trying to go. Nate gave him encouragement, “That-a-boy Sam, you’ve got it—drive to the basket.” Will and Wu gave Sam plenty of room but also made sure it wasn’t perfectly easy for him. Sam would then hoist the ball up with both hands and heave it with all his might in the direction of the basket. Most of the time it didn’t get anywhere close, but Wu would shout, “Almost, Sam, you’re getting closer.”

&n
bsp; Nate was good but not as good as Wu, so when Nate or Wu got the ball, they really went at it. One time, Nate was driving to the basket, and Sam was just trying to stay out of the way, but Nate, after getting blocked thoroughly by Wu, tossed the ball to Sam and said, “Shoot Sam! You’re in the clear!” Sam was so shocked, he just stood there for a second and then saw the basket and heaved the ball. It was a perfect swish. Everyone was silent for a moment, and then went crazy!

  Nate shouted, “Sam, that was awesome!” He grabbed Sam and put him on his shoulder and said, “Game over, Sam wins it!”

  Wu and Will were pumping their arms and shouting, “Woo-hoo, way to go Sam!” A nutty, fun game.

  Will turned toward the bench and started to say, “Did you see that, Blue?” But she wasn’t there. They all looked around and then spotted her on a swing not far away. She saw them looking her way, and she gave a wave of her hand.

  Nate said to Will, “We’re supposed to keep her close by, but I don’t know why. She sure seems fine to me. I don’t like being a babysitter.”

  Wu protested, “We’re not babysitting her, we’re here to be her family. Ma Beth said we have to stay together. She’ll stay close. I think she likes it at our house.” He looked down while he dribbled the ball after he’d spoken.

  Wu sure is sticking up for her, thought Will. He looked over at Blue. What trouble could she get in at the park? “Well look,” he said, “we’ll all just check on her from time to time. It’ll be fine.”

  They took another break after about an hour. Blue had wandered back to the bench, but this time, she had a pad and pencil out and looked like she was drawing. The boys grabbed a backpack that Nate had brought and pulled out some juice and granola bars. Will walked over to Blue.