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It was a crisp blue-sky morning, and Sally's big hoop earring gleamed gold in the sunlight as he took the wheel. He was wearing a Buzz Lightyear T-shirt, his usual ratty sneakers, and ripped jeans.
He had a shark tooth necklace around his neck, and the volume of his hair seemed to have increased since I saw him last. He settled little heart-shaped Lolita-type sunglasses on his big hook nose, and he started the bus.
'You gotta turn at the corner,' Grandma told him. Then you go two blocks and make a right.'
Sally took the first corner wide, and Grandma slid off her seat, onto the floor.
'Fuck,' Sally said, looking down at Grandma. Snap.
'Don't worry about me,' Grandma said, righting herself. 'I just didn't remember to hold on. I don't know how all those little kids do it. These seats are slippery.'
The kids are all over the fucking bus all the time,' Sally said. 'Oh shit.' Snap, snap.
'Sounds like you're having a relapse,' Grandma said to Sally. 'You were doing real good for a while there.'
'I have to concentrate,' Sally told her. 'Its hard to stop doing something that took me years to perfect.'
'I can see that,' Grandma said. 'And it's a shame you have to give up something you're so good at.'
'Yeah, but it's for a good cause,' Sally said. It's for the little dudes.'
Sally eased the bus up to the curb in front of the rental house and opened the door with a whoosh of the hydraulic. 'Here we are.' he said. 'Everybody out.'
I tagged along after my mother, Grandma Mazur, Valerie and the baby, and Sally as
they all hustled up to the front porch.
My mother knocked on the landlords door, and everyone quieted down for a moment. My mother knocked a second time.
Still, no one opened the door.
'That's odd,' Grandma said. 'I thought she was supposed to be home.'
Sally put his ear to the door. 'I think I hear someone breathing in there.'
Probably she was on the floor, having a coronary. A herd of lunatics just got out of a big yellow school bus and descended on her porch.
'You better open up if you're in there,' Grandma yelled. 'We got a bounty hunter out here.'
The door cracked open, the security chain in place. 'Edna? Is that you?' the woman asked.
Grandma Mazur squinted at the eyes behind the door. 'Yep, it's me,' she said. 'Who are you?'
'Esther Hamish. I always sit by you at bingo.'
'Esther Hamish!' Grandma said. `I didn't know you were the one who bought this house.'
'Yep,' Esther said. 'I had some money socked away from Harry's insurance policy, God bless him, may he rest in peace.'
Everyone made the sign of the cross. Rest in peace, we all said.
'Well, we come to see about the rental,' Grandma told Esther.
This here's my granddaughter. She's looking for a place.'
'How nice,' Esther said. 'Let me get the key. You had me going for a minute there. I've never had a school bus park in front of my house before.'
`Yeah,' Grandma said. 'It's new to us, too, but we're getting used to it. I like that it's a nice cheery yellow. Its a real happy color.
