He nodded but didn’t answer as he concentrated on walking on the cracked, uneven concrete of the driveway. It was in desperate need of replacing, but Grammy didn’t have the funds, nor did Matty suspect she cared. She no longer drove and rarely left the house outside of medical appointments.
For extra caution, she gently grabbed his elbow, guiding him to the back door and up the short set of stairs. They didn’t bother to knock.
Grammy’s shuffling feet accompanied her voice on the other side of the door. “Kenny! Come here, precious, let me see you.”
Matty couldn’t help but grin as she stepped inside to see her grandmother fawning all over Kenny, who was just eating up the attention. “Why don’t I get this kind of greeting?”
Kenny laughed with a stutter, rubbing up and over the crown of his head. “Hi, Grammy.”
“Here, come sit with me at the table while Matty works. We’ll have ice cream. I got a whole new tub of sugar-free butter pecan.”
A pitched beep echoed from somewhere deeper in the house.
“Do I get ice cream?” Matty asked in a teasing voice.
“Only after you fix that blasted thing. It’s gotten my nerves all twisted in a knot.”
Matty rolled her eyes but couldn’t help but chuckle at the bright smile on Kenny’s face as her grandmother turned her attention back to him.
She found the beeping smoke detector in the back bedroom that was once hers. It held a lot of boxes now, but her metal-framed bed with a blue, green, and cream plaid comforter was still exactly as it should be. The posters of Sum 41 and AFI still graced the yellow walls, and her shelf of books and magazines was still overflowing, waiting for someone to consume their contents again.
Pausing for just a moment, she let a small, sad smile tug at her lips. It felt like a lifetime ago when she would lock herself away in the room, leaving the world outside, and get lost in those books. So much had transpired since then.
She grabbed a chair from the cluttered desk. Not her clutter. Matty had always been a neat person, but it looked like Grams had decided it was the best place to discard unwanted clothing. She plucked the fire alarm off the ceiling before hopping back down to the floor.
When she returned to the kitchen to dig around in the junk drawer for where the extra batteries were kept, she wasn’t the least bit surprised to find Kenny sitting at the kitchen table, a big bowl of ice cream in front of him and Grammy tucking a dish towel in the collar of his shirt. “How about I crumble up a couple of sugar cookies on top?”
“And why do you have sugar cookies?” Matty asked as she popped the old battery out to replace it.
Scoffing, Grams threw her a sharp look. “I only have one or two.”
“Right,” the word drawled out of her mouth slowly.
“Oh, hush and go get that hung back up.”
Chuckling, she did as she was told. It wasn’t long before she had completed her task, testing it twice just to be sure.
“Okay, so do I get a bowl now, or am I not good enough?” she teased, sitting herself down by Kenny. He was laser-focused on the bowl before him. It didn’t go unnoticed that sprinkles had been added.
“I suppose I should reward you for your hard work.”
The visit was nicer than her last time there. They chatted about their week, and for once, Grammy didn’t bring up Clay. It was a relief, to say the least.
“Sugar-free ice cream isn’t too bad,” Matty commented as she scraped the last bit of it from the bowl.
“It’s the Kroger brand. They have good sugar-free ice cream. Do you want any more?”
Matty shook her head. “I’m at my limit. How about you, Kenny?”
“I’m good.”
“Well then, let me get these bowls cleaned up.” Grammy went to grab them, but Matty stopped her.
“I got it. You sit.”
“Well, if you insist.”
Matty gathered the bowls and spoons before taking them to the sink to wash. As she turned the tap on to heat up, she thought it would be a good time to discuss the topic of taking the GED tests. Grammy was in a good mood, and she really wanted her support on the matter.
