Strangely Normal - By Tess Oliver Page 0,7
And what do you want, Sophie?”
She spun around on her bottom and crossed her arm. “I don’t want any toy. I just want you to stay.”
“Ahh, Sophie Bear, you’ll have Mommy and Daddy and Janie to keep you company. And you have my permission to pull out my bed and jump on it whenever you want.”
Mom leaned against the door frame. “Thanks. Now she’ll be doing that all day.” Her face softened, and she bit her lip which meant she was about to cry. No one wore sadness more beautifully, or more obviously, than my mom.
I walked over and hugged her. “Mom, are you and Dad going to be all right without me?” I sounded like the parent leaving her kids, which, in a funny way, was sort of true.
“We’ll be fine. Bored and lonely, but fine.” She took hold of my arms and looked at me. “You have fun but if anything seems strange or you get even a tiny notion that this isn’t for you, you call right away, and I’ll fire up the rust boat and come get you.” She wiped hastily at a tear that had escaped. “Speaking of the rust boat, your dad is waiting for you outside.”
Sophie and Janie each clamped onto one of my legs, and I walked stiff-legged to the door. Mom pried them off, kissed me on the cheek, and handed me the duffle. “Remember to call.”
Dad honked from the parking lot.
Mom rolled her eyes. “He’s like a kid waiting to see Santa.”
“I’ve told him that Nicky King is not going to be home. And he promised that he would just drop me off.”
“He knows all that. He’s just excited for you.”
“Bye, Mom. Love you.” I kissed my sisters and headed to the van.
I tossed my duffle into the back seat and climbed in to the front. “Is that a new noise? I’ve never heard it before.”
“Nah, she’s just cold.” Dad patted the dashboard that was split open in four places and hardly resembled a dash anymore. “She’ll be fine.” He looked at me. “Are you ready?”
“As ever.”
Early June in California meant a morning of fog that would eventually dissolve into hazy sunshine. The mist was just beginning to lift, and the blue sky was breaking through. Even though it was Saturday, the freeway was packed tightly like a can of car sardines.
“Ahh, L.A., the traffic capital of the world,” Dad sighed. The van chugged along the freeway as if we were dragging a load of bricks behind us. The CD player hadn’t worked when we’d first bought the van from the weasley-faced car salesman, but Dad had managed to get it working with the help of a paper clip. Naturally, we listened to Black Thunder. They were a bit too heavy metal and rock and roll for me but then Black Thunder was before my time.
As usual, Dad drummed his fingers on the steering wheel keeping beat with the song. Occasionally, he used his knee to steer so that he could use both hands on his imaginary drum set. After a few minutes of his drum solo, he reached forward and turned down the volume. “You know, Edie, if you get any bad feeling about this once you get there—”
“I know, Dad. Mom already gave me the call right away talk.”
“Good. Just remember.”
“Dad, I plan to send the money home for you—”
“Oh no you don’t, kiddo. That is your money. You can deposit it right into that savings account Grandma left you.” As desperate as my parents always were for money, they’d never touched the two hundred dollars my grandmother had left me before she died.
“I want you to use it for Sophie and Janie. You can’t say no when it’s for them.”
“Janie and Sophie will be fine. Save it for college. Besides, I’ve got a few good prospects coming my way.” My dad always had a few good prospects but a dismal few good offers.
He grew silent. The only sound was the occasional cough from the engine and Nicky King belting out the words to his hit song, Angel Tears.
“You know, Edie, I haven’t been the world’s best dad.”
“That’s your opinion.”
“No, seriously. I know I’ve made some mistakes, and I haven’t provided very well for you.”
“Dad, remember that time we found that old bike in the dumpster and you spent the whole afternoon teaching me to ride two wheels? And I took off but I didn’t know how to break.”
“How could I forget it? I got my first gray