upside down in a lawn chair, with his back arched so his straight hair touched the gravel. He had his arms crossed over his chest. He stared at the truck.
“That kid is a dickweed,” Karpinski said.
“He’s my brother. He’s a little pissed off today.”
“That’s why he’s upside down?” Karpinski asked.
“Probably.”
Cody jumped out and helped me get my Schwinn Varsity out of the back of the truck. Upside down, Andrew stared the whole time.
After Cody and Karpinski left, I wheeled my bike passed upside down Andrew. I said, “Jerri still drinking wine?”
“I wouldn’t know. I’m an animal. I live outside, pee in the yard, and steal cucumbers from gardens.”
“Jesus, Andrew. You’re acting like a freak.”
“Oh, am I?”
“Yes.”
“Then I’m a freak.”
I parked my bike in the garage, entered the house, and found it dark and quiet.
CHAPTER 22: I CAN BE A NORMAL DAMN TEENAGER, SORT OF
Jerri was out cold the whole rest of the afternoon. I checked on her a couple of times. She was breathing. It actually occurred to me that I was acting like Jerri when she’d stand there watching me while I watched TV (pretending to be asleep so I wouldn’t have to talk to her). Is she really sleeping? One time, I got real close to her and put my hand in front of her face to see if she’d flinch because maybe she was pretending to be asleep so she wouldn’t have to talk, but she didn’t move. Plus, there was no TV in Jerri’s room at that time, so there wasn’t anything she could be squinting at.
I spent most of the afternoon watching TV myself, a Big Ten Network replay of the 1994 Rose Bowl game, where Wisconsin beat UCLA. Wisconsin had this little bowling ball running back who ran over people and stomped on their heads. He’s tougher than you, but you’re faster. As I watched, I stretched my legs because they seriously hurt. Andrew never came inside.
Around seven, I took him out a goat cheese sandwich. He still sat in that stupid lawn chair out on the driveway.
“Why don’t you come inside?” I asked.
“I’m not welcome in my own home,” he said.
“Yes, you are, Andrew. Just come in and watch TV, okay?”
“I don’t think so,” he said.
About ten minutes later, he did come in though.
“Can I watch cartoons?” he asked.
I got off the couch, motioned for him to sit down, then went into my bedroom to email Gus from my laptop. I wasn’t sure where to start. So I just said: jerri lost her marbles today. might be in trouble. I hit send and went into the bathroom to shower. While I scrubbed my fur-bursting, pee-smelling jock body, I figured Andrew had stayed out of the house for over twelve hours. He’s no dickweed. He’s tough as hell. I also thought, Gus will reply with something good. He’ll help me figure out what to do about this crazy shit.
Gus is only sixteen too, of course. What was I expecting?
I dressed in the biggest jeans I could find, not that they were big. They were far too small for my body. Jerri bought them for me in late May, just a month before. I was still growing like a weed (not a dickweed). All this growth and too small pants, etc., made me wonder if I could seriously take that jerk Ken Johnson in the 100 meters. My guess was yes. If only I had the chance. I pulled on the longest T-shirt I had, so as not to show off my furry belly button, and headed out past Andrew watching SpongeBob.
“Where are you going?” Andrew asked.
“Bike ride. Call if you experience any trouble.”
Andrew pulled the phone off the side table and sat it in his lap but didn’t say anything else; just kept watching the sponge.
Of course, I couldn’t tell him I was going to see Aleah.
***
Why couldn’t I tell him? Because he’d probably have wanted to come with me, okay? Or he might have tailed me and gone all peeping tom in the windows. He had my cell number if something went wrong, and Jerri had it on speed dial on the phone, so he could just press a button, and I’m very fast. I could get back to the house in mere minutes if need be. There was clearly no reason to bring up the sore subject of Aleah. What if he woke Jerri? What if Zombie Jerri was in a Frankenstein mood and got the word from loose lips Andrew and