AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Things had been so chaotic at his house, there’d been no way he could have accurately pinpointed when it would wrap up. I could be patient. I’d waited on Adam to get his shit together for over half a year, so an hour or two of waiting on Daniel to tie up the loose ends of his mom’s situation was nothing.
I thought about getting out and taking photos, but then I remembered how I used to walk Milky Way around this area after preparing Bobby’s lunch and doing his laundry. The thought of walking into the house and finding it—How? Had Kerri gone in and cleaned it up in anticipation of Bobby coming home? Probably.
Betty Blue pulled into the driveway and parked behind me. We’d have to reshuffle the cars if I left. I glanced to the bags in the passenger seat. My backpack for school sat next to an overnight bag containing a change of clothes, my contacts kit, and the still unopened box of condoms. Just in case.
When Daniel exited, I got out, too, taking my camera but leaving my bags behind me. Bobby’s house was in a safe neighborhood. I didn’t think I needed to worry about it. Back at my house, I’d reloaded the Minolta with fresh film, marking Kennedy’s roll, so I could decide if I wanted to develop it or not. I probably would. It’d be interesting to see if she had a natural eye.
“Hey,” Daniel said, his own overnight bag slung across his shoulders. He looked worn down, like a bomb had gone off inside him, and he was too tired to even begin collecting the pieces.
“Hi.” I put my arms around him, and we hugged each other close, despite my camera and his bag getting in the way. We didn’t say anything, just swayed in the driveway as a breeze scented by freshly mown grass drifted over from Bobby’s garden. Kerri must have been by to work on it. It looked as nice as it ever did. “Are you all right?” I asked.
“Yeah. No. I don’t know. I’m just glad I’m here with you.” He held me tighter.
“Me too.”
We hugged for a long time.
Daniel broke the hug and took a step toward the front door, only to stop in his tracks, gazing at the house. “Oh.”
I took his hand.
We stared at the house together.
Daniel’s eyes shimmered but no tears fell. He nodded twice. “All right.”
He moved forward, and I went with him.
Inside it was clear I’d been right. Kerry had tidied the place. That didn’t stop the living room from smelling like Bobby—the medicinal scent and the smell of sickness. Daniel stood still, looking around. The fireplace, the coffee table, the chair Bobby liked best…
“It’s…” He swept a hand through his hair and shook his head.
I didn’t know what he’d been about to say, but I responded with, “Yeah.” It was the best I could do when my own heart was aching.
“Let’s open the windows,” he said. He didn’t wait for me to respond, going window-to-window and room-to-room, pushing aside the curtains and flinging up the sashes. Fresh air poured in. Sweet scents of roses from the garden. The green smell of grass.
Light came in too. The two bedrooms, the kitchen, and the living room all glowed with the sun, and the curtains and the fabric on the beds all fluttered with the breeze. I felt like Bobby would have laughed at Daniel’s frantic airing of the place.
You can’t get rid of me that quick! I’m inside you. Opening the windows won’t chase me out of your heart.
A lesson I’d learned once before. Grief had to be gone through the hard way. There was no pushing it aside or wishing it away.
But Daniel had plenty of grief to process today. It wasn’t just Bobby. It was his mom and his siblings, too.
In the kitchen, opening the window over the sink, Daniel knocked into Milky Way’s nearly empty water dish. It splashed onto the linoleum.
“Where is she?” I asked.
“With Mom and Nadine. I thought about bringing her, but I didn’t think I could handle seeing her look for him.”
My stomach knotted up. I couldn’t have handled it either.
“She’ll be fine with them. Mom’s settled down.” He turned back to me, leaning against the counter in exhaustion. “Sorry I was late.”
“It’s all right.”
“I should have known it would take longer.”
I approached him and took hold of his hands again. “It’s all right.”
