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He didn’t say anything, and Addy knew she wasn’t helping any. She had no clue why Courtney hadn’t told her kids anything about their father’s condition. Seemed wrong not to reveal the situation… to leave them with an estranged relation.
“Why did she leave us withhim?” Michael’s voice trembled with unshed tears. “We don’t even know him. At all. We’ve only seen his picture at Grammy’s house.”
“I don’t know, but I know he’s trying his best.”
“Yeah, well, his best sucks. I need my mom to come home.”
“Sometimes people do things we don’t understand. It’s not fair. But it doesn’t mean they’re trying to hurt you.”
Michael snorted. “That’s an understatement.”
“I’ve spent my life accepting I can’t control everything. It’s hard to swallow being powerless, but once you accept it, it’s easier to face the world around you. You can’t control things with your father… even if you knew what was going on with him. You also can’t control the fact your mother left you with your uncle. So what can you control?”
For a moment, Michael was silent. If she could see into his mind, she guessed she’d see the cogwheels turning, pulling in her questions, and churning to make sense of them.
“Nothing,” he said with a shrug. “I guess I can’t control anything. Dumbass Chris just posted on my snapchat stories a pic of me looking at that orchid and put something stupid about how I wanna give flowers to Hannah Leachman. Now everyone is going to think I like her. I look like a total idiot in the picture.”
“Oh.” Addy paused thinking about that one. “Doyou like her?”
Michael shrugged. “She’s kind of cool, but now I’m going to get ragged about it, and I didn’t even post it. Chris loves to mess with my shit because he doesn’t have a phone.”
“All brothers and sisters cause trouble. Trust me. I have four of them. My older sister still tries to set me up with guys. The last one she set me up with lived with his mother and played in Boggle tournaments. He also walked around with a parrot on his shoulder. All the time.”
A semi-smile twitched at the boy’s lips. “Yeah, sometimes it sucks having siblings. Lottie spilled hot chocolate on my math homework last week and Chris used up all my body spray. He got sent home because no one in the class could breathe and one kid was allergic and swelled up.”
Addy laughed. “Yours are definitely interesting.”
“You like Lucas, huh?”
“What?”
“My uncle. I can see you like him.”
Addy blinked. Well, she didn’t think it was that obvious. “I suppose so. I have to give him credit for showing up. He’s a bachelor, you know? Not used to kids and animals and noise. This has to be a shock to his system, yet he’s still here. He stepped up when no one else did.”
“Why though? He and my dad have been mad at each other for a long time.”
“Not sure. Maybe because your mother asked him. Maybe he needed a reason to connect with you and your family. I don’t know because I don’t know the background between Lucas and your parents. But that doesn’t change the fact he’s here.”
“Yeah, he’s here, telling me how to live and think. He doesn’t have the right to tell me anything.”
“Have you talked to him about the way you feel? Not just complained?”
He didn’t respond.
“Because Lucas can’t change something he doesn’t know about.”
Michael slid his gaze to her and in those chocolate depths she saw a tiny crack, a sort of “maybe she’s not totally stupid” fissure in his wall of mistrust. It was about as good as she’d get as a thank-you from the kid.
Addy rose and stretched. “Why don’t we go inside and get a bag of frozen veggies for your cheek? You might turn a shiner out of this one.”
“’Kay. In a minute.”
Addy left him, sending up a silent prayer of thanks for the words she’d managed. All those hours of sitting in therapy group noshing on doughnuts and sipping weak coffee had paid off. Of course, she hadn’t fixed anything between Michael and his uncle, but she had given the kid something to chew on. An old proverb her Aunt Flora used to say sprang to mind.Wish in one hand and spit in the other and see which one fills up the fastest.
Addy had held plenty of spit in life and complaining about how life deals you a shitty hand doesn’t take that spit away.
Monday morning came with unsigned school papers and a glass of spilled milk, but otherwise, Lucas made it. After navigating New Orleans traffic and hitting two different schools for drop off, he needed something stronger than PJ’s coffee but he took a large cup anyhow. Then he would head back to the blissfully silent house. He was nearly giddy with the thought of being alone, even if it was in a house that needed about three maids to give it a good scrub down.
