“Don't cry, Mom,” she begged.
Her mom's eyes sparkled. “They're happy tears,” she whispered. “I'm just so thankful you're okay.”
Tricia groaned. It was all coming back to her now. She was here because she had lied to everybody, gone to her dad's house, worried her mother sick and trusted her stupid dad. Her dad…
“Is Dad okay?”
Her mother nodded. “He's fine.”
“Where is he?”
Her mother hesitated. “Here for now,” she said cautiously. “He's in a room right down the hall. He's okay, I promise. You're in much worse shape than he is.” Her mother sounded bitter.
“Was he drunk? Is that why he wrecked the car? He was drinking something, but I thought it was Coke.” Tricia closed her eyes, yet her focus was sharpening. What an idiot she was.
“We're not sure if he was drinking, sweetie. They're running some tests.” Her mother's face tightened into a pinched expression. “Why did you go there, Tricia?”
Tricia tried to lick her lips, but her tongue was parched. “I just wanted to see him. I'm so sorry, Mom.”
Tears trickled down her mother's cheeks. “You never have to apologize for loving your dad.”
Tricia's lids felt heavy, but somehow, she felt strong. “I don't love him. I hate him.”
Her mother shook her head. “Don't say that. He's your dad, and he loves you. He didn't mean to hurt you, honey, I promise you. He just can't help himself right now.”
“Is he an alcoholic?”
Her mom nodded. “Yeah. He drank a lot when he was younger, but he stopped when we got married and stayed sober for years. You kept him sober. He loves you so much. And he was a good dad when he was well.”
“Why did he start drinking again?” Tricia asked.
Her mother shook her head slowly. “I don't know, honey. I think he's just really sick. He tries to stay sober, you know. He's always trying. For your sake.” She clasped Tricia's finger. “Do you want to see him?”
Tricia pondered her answer. “Maybe later,” she said. “Right now, I'd rather see Troy.”
… … …
Troy's eyes looked kind as he gingerly held Tricia's hand.
“Why does Everly get a good dad and I'm stuck with a loser?” she asked him sleepily, fighting to keep her eyes open.
“You have a good dad,” Troy said, smoothing her hair. “He's just struggling right now.”
Tricia loved him for saying that.
“And you've got me, too,” Troy continued. “You and Everly are both my girls.”
“I'm really stupid, aren't I?” she said.
“No, honey,” Troy responded. “You just love your dad. And you should. My dad was an alcoholic, too, but I never stopped loving him.”
“My dad's problem…I didn't know,” Tricia said. “I didn't even know.”
Troy nodded. “Your mom didn't want you to. She's always tried really hard to protect you.”
“Still… you guys should've told me.”
Troy shrugged. “Probably so, honey. You can never keep a secret like that for long. Kids have a way of knowing things, even when nobody tells them. I know that from firsthand experience. And as smart as you are… you're right, we probably should have told you. But your mom did what she thought was best. She loves you very much, Tricia.”
Tap, tap, tap.
Tricia glanced toward the knock on the door of her hospital room. Her mom poked her head in. “Sorry to disturb you two, but you have a surprise visitor if you're up for it, Tricia.”
Tricia looked curious. “Who is it?”
Her mom held the door open wider, and in walked Mei.
“Mei!”
Tricia's elation was indescribable. She was so happy to see her friend, someone familiar and comforting, a symbol of everything Tricia loved about her life…a fellow Right-Under.
“Hi,” Mei said, walking toward Tricia with deep concern in her almond-shaped eyes.
“How did you know I was here?” Tricia asked.
Mei smiled. “I didn't. I saw your mom in the hall.”
“But… what are you doing in a hospital?”
Mei's lips parted to form a wide smile. “My mom had her baby a couple of hours ago. Tricia, I'm a sister!”
Tricia couldn't resist returning Mei's smile. “Ouch,” she said, touching her fingertips to her swollen mouth. “Mei, that's great.”
“He came a few weeks early, but he's six pounds and totally healthy.”
“Wow. A baby brother.”
Mei nodded. “His name is Stanley Wu. Stanley after my stepdad, of course. Wu after my mom's dad… which was also my dad's name.” She tilted her head to one side. “The middle name was Stan's idea.”
Tricia grinned mischievously. “That's a seriously awful name, you know.”
Mei giggled. “I know. But I'll beat up anybody who teases him about it.”
Now, that was a funny image.
“Okay, maybe not,” Mei said. “Instead, how about we keep his middle name to ourselves? Right-Under honor?”
Tricia nodded. “Right-Under honor.”
But she knew how proud Mei was. And she knew how much fun it was to be a big sister, when it wasn't a total pain in the neck.
“Hey, Troy?” Tricia said, glancing at her stepdad. “I'm dying to see Everly.”
22
“The July twenty-second meeting of the Right-Under Club is now in session.”
All the girls had visited Tricia in the hospital, then several more times after she'd returned home, but it wasn't until they saw her in the tree house that they knew she really was going to be okay.
“First order of business: to teach our president how to cover up hideous black-and-blue marks with makeup,” Leighton teased.
Tricia managed a weak smile. Her swelling was almost gone, but the bruises remained, and she still had stitches over one eye. Her R.U. shirt was torn and stained from the accident, but she wore it proudly.
“No,” Tricia corrected Leighton, “the first order of business is to officially welcome our mascot into the club: Mei's new brother, Stanley.”
“Hey, Right-Unders have to be girls,” Hope pointed out good-naturedly.
“Trust me, he's too busy pooping to make the meetings,” Mei said, and everyone laughed. Mei turned toward Tricia. “Besides, we have our hands full with old business. Tricia, as if your bruises don't speak for themselves, you know the drill. Time to report on your problem.”
Tricia squeezed the Problem Stick and crossed her legs at the ankles. “As everyone knows, my problem ended with a bang,” she said with a grin. “Which means you also know my dad is an alcoholic, which means you also know he's been arrested for driving under the influence, which means you also know my life is in a complete shambles.” She shrugged. “But it's okay.”
“We should've guessed your mom had a good reason for staying nearby when you were with your dad,” Elizabeth said. “Do you hate him?”
Tricia nodded, but her expression was soft. “Yeah. But I love him, too. How's that for weird?”
“Why did you sneak off without telling your mom?” Hope said. “I don't remember that being one of our solutions.”
“I was an idiot,” Tricia said. “I can't explain it. I kinda felt like his life was a mess, but I needed to see for myself. I thought I could help him.”
“When will you see him again?” Elizabeth asked.
“No time soon,” Tricia said. “He's in rehab. He insists he's cleaning up his act. I think he's really gonna try. I hope he can pull it off. I know he's pretty pathetic right now, but he's great in a lot of ways… you know?”
Hope nodded. “That's how I feel about my mom. But I'm probably just kidding myself.”
Tricia lowered her eyes. “I might be kidding myself, too,” she said. “But I want to give him the benefit of the doubt.” She shrugged. “He's my dad.”
“Hey, nobody's perfect,” Mei said soothingly. “It's easy for me to pretend my dad was perfect because
he's not around anymore. But I'm sure he had plenty of flaws.”
“Everybody does,” Hope said.
A muted sound of sniffling drew the girls’ eyes to Elizabeth.
“Are you crying, Elizabeth?” Tricia asked, leaning in closer.
Elizabeth looked down, wiped an eye and shook her head.
“Yes, you are,” Hope said. “What's up?”
Elizabeth covered her face with her hands. They sat there silently for a few moments while she cried.
“You can tell us,” Tricia said quietly. “We're Right-Unders. We R There for U. Remember?”
Elizabeth lowered her hands and looked at the girls through moist eyes. “I'm so glad you guys are my friends,” she said.
“Is it your grandmother, Elizabeth?” Mei asked. “Has she gotten worse?”
Elizabeth shook her head. “She's about the same. It's really sad, but at least my mom finally knows what's going on. She found a lady who can stay with Grandma when Grandpa's working on the farm. We don't know how long that can last— Grandma's going to keep getting sicker—but at least I don't worry about her as much.”
“Then why are you crying?” Hope persisted.
Elizabeth folded her hands and laid them in her lap. “I don't know…. You guys talking about your parents is making me think about mine. I'll have to go home soon, wherever that might be.”
“What do you mean?” Tricia asked.
Elizabeth took a deep breath. “My parents both want me to live with them. A judge wants me to decide. When I go back, I have to tell the judge where I want to live. She wants it settled before school starts.”
The girls shared anxious glances.
“That totally sucks,” Leighton said.
“Well, it's not happening!” Hope's voice was so forceful that everyone jumped slightly. “No way am I letting them treat my cousin that way! Elizabeth, you can just stay with us.”
Elizabeth smiled gratefully but shook her head. “I have to go back,” she said. “I just don't know how to choose one parent over the other.”
“I'll talk to your dad,” Hope said breathlessly. “I'll have my dad talk to your dad. He'll listen. We'll fix this, I promise.”
“What would you say to her dad?” Leighton challenged. “ ‘Stop wanting your kid to be with you’? She's lucky both of her parents want her so much.”
“But no way should she have to choose,” Hope said.
Tricia fingered the Problem Stick. “Do you want us to write down some solutions?” she asked Elizabeth.
Elizabeth's lips tightened. “Thanks,” she said, “but I think this is something I'm going to have to work out on my own.”
“Why not just flip a coin?” Hope said sarcastically. “That makes as much sense as anything else. The judge is nuts. And your parents are nuts for putting you in this position.”
“Thanks for caring,” Elizabeth said, looking from one face to the next. “And thanks for letting me be in your club. I know you probably didn't want me in it.”
“Why would you say that?” Tricia asked.
“You know…. I'm a little kid compared to you guys. But you let me in anyway. I've loved being a Right-Under.”
“You're making it sound like it's over,” Tricia said.
Elizabeth's eyebrows formed an upside-down V. “I go home in a couple of weeks. And we've all had our turn with the Problem Stick.”
Leighton tsked. “It's not like we're going to run out of problems,” she said. “And it's not like you can't come back for visits. We should probably make it an official rule that you have to come to meetings at least once a month. That way, your parents will have to keep bringing you back.”
Elizabeth smiled. They wanted her to come back.
“What if we all kinda drift apart once school starts?” Hope asked.
“We won't,” Tricia said emphatically. “We've come too far together. You don't go through what we've been through and then just walk away from each other.”
The girls’ expressions were hopeful. They all wanted to believe it. Still, middle school could be so…fickle.
“This may have started out as a dumb kids’ club,” Tricia continued, “but we all know it's turned into something a lot more than that. We owe it to each other to stick together.”
“Besides,” Mei teased, “we know each other's secrets. There's no unringing a bell.”
She remembered how vulnerable she'd felt when she first started confiding in the girls… when she first started trusting them. But now, it felt natural, safe, for the Right-Unders to know her so well.
“Right-Unders stick together through thick and thin,” Leighton said firmly. “That's all there is to it.”
The girls joined hands and nodded. Leighton was right. That was all there was to it.
23
“Happy birthday to you!”
Hope leaned close to Mei. “Why don't people settle on a key before they start singing that stupid song?” she asked.
Mei laughed.
“Here we go!” Tricia's mom walked onto the backyard deck holding a rectangular cake ablaze with candles. “Tricia? Elizabeth? You're up.”
Her mom placed the cake on the table as Tricia and Elizabeth walked up to blow out the candles. The white frosting was decorated with pink and yellow roses and the words “Happy Birthday, Tricia” and “Come Back Soon, Elizabeth.” It had been Tricia's mom's idea to combine Tricia's birthday party with a celebration of Elizabeth's last weekend in town. The girls blew out the candles, then hugged each other as their parents and friends applauded.
“So,” Tricia's mom said as she plucked candles out of the cake and licked the frosting off her fingers, “now that summer's almost over and Elizabeth is going back home, do us parents finally get to find out what R.U. stands for?”
The Right-Unders exchanged glances and shook their heads. “No way,” Leighton said.
It felt weird to have all the families together. The girls knew so much about them at this point: the persnickety but goodhearted principal, who was gently cradling his newborn son in his arms as dusk blanketed the backyard party in cozy warmth; Mei's mom, sitting by his side looking tired but utterly content; Jacie, the pretty stepmom who never managed to say quite the right thing to Hope, despite her best intentions; Hope's dad, who had his arm around his daughter's shoulder and occasionally tugged affectionately at her ringlets; Leighton's extrafriendly mom and extra-quiet stepdad, whose eyes sparkled when they looked at each other; Leighton's stepbrother, Kyle, who hung back from the group but looked like he was enjoying himself; Everly, whose face was already smeared with frosting; and Tricia's mom and stepdad, who seemed more relaxed than Tricia had seen them in a long time.
Then there were the surprise visitors: Elizabeth's parents. They stood on opposite ends of the deck but kept smiles plastered on their faces and hovered protectively around their daughter.
“Cross your fingers that they keep behaving themselves,” Elizabeth whispered to Tricia as slices of cake were passed around the crowd.
“They both seem really nice,” Tricia said. “And they're here together. That's a good sign.”
“I think everything's gonna be okay,” Elizabeth said. “When they got here this morning, they told me they've been working all summer with… with…it's called a meditator or something like that.”
“Mediator,” Elizabeth's dad said, leaning into the conversation and winking at his startled daughter, who hadn't known he was listening.
“Dad!” Elizabeth scolded.
“Okay, okay! No more eavesdropping.” He took several steps backward and sat on a bench built into the deck.
Tricia took a bite of her cake with a plastic fork. “What's a mediator?” she asked.
“Somebody who helps keep things fair and friendly during a divorce,” Elizabeth responded. “Mom says I won't have to talk to a judge after all, and she and Dad are getting along a lot better. They're working things out so that I can spend time with both of them. They're both getting new house
s, but they'll be close by, and I won't have to change schools.”
“That's great,” Tricia said. “We didn't have to solve your problem; your folks did it for you.”
“Yeah.” Elizabeth smoothed her R.U. T-shirt. All the girls were wearing them. Solidarity.
“Things are going good for me, too,” Tricia said. “My dad's doing great in rehab. I know it may not last, but his counselors say they've never seen anybody more motivated to get sober. My mom and I are going to visit next weekend and have some kind of family counseling session.”
“Will he go to jail?” Elizabeth asked.
“Mom says probably not, if he finishes rehab and keeps his probation officer happy.” Tricia wrinkled her nose. “I didn't even know what a probation officer was before the wreck. I'm learning more than I ever wanted to know about… what do they call it?… substance abuse. Such is life with a flawed father.”
“Did someone call for a father?” The girls turned toward the voice. It was Mei's stepdad, walking up behind them with little Stanley Wu in his arms.
“He's so cute,” Elizabeth cooed, touching the baby's soft head. “He looks just like Mei did when she was a baby,” Mei's mother said, walking over to join them.
“No way,” Mei called from the opposite side of the deck. “Stanley's got chronic bed head. No offense, little guy.” She smiled at Kyle, who had just brought her a soft drink. “Thanks.”
“You're welcome,” he said. “Hey, Leighton said your mural in the school cafeteria is awesome. I can't wait to see it.”
Mei blushed. “It's no big deal.”
“That's not what I hear,” Kyle said. “Everybody's talking about how talented you are.”
“Thanks.” Mei's eyelids fluttered. “That's what I always hear about you. You're, like, the smartest guy in school.”
Now it was Kyle's turn to blush.
“Please, Mei. His head might explode if you inflate his ego any bigger than it already is,” Leighton teased as she walked over.
Kyle smiled. “Trust me, Leighton: you keep my ego firmly in check.”
“No need to thank me.” The stepsiblings jostled elbows.
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