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"Sure, sit on the edge of the bathtub."
Gabe spends the next few minutes twisting me back and forth as he styles my hair to perfection; at least that's what he says anyway.
"Is this for men or women?" I ask, reaching for a bottle that’s shaped like a flower.
Gabe looks at it briefly before taking off the lid and sniffing it. "Yeah, I think this might be perfume. It's usually what girls wear," he says with a shrug.
"Why does he use perfume if it’s for girls?"
"How am I supposed to know? He probably bought it as a present for one of his many girlfriends," he says, rolling his eyes at my question. "Men wear something called aftershave. But a little perfume might be okay for you too," he encourages.
I take it out of Gabe's hand and look at the bottle, trying to read what it says, just in case he's playing a trick on me. "Wait, that word says toilet, doesn't it?" I ask, pointing to the word on the front of the bottle.
Gabe taps me on the back of the head. "No you idiot," Gabe laughs, "It saysEau de Toilette; it's French, I think."
"French for what?" I ask.
"How the fuck am I supposed to know?" Gabe says with a shrug. "Wear this so you don't smell like shit. I guess," he jokes.
"How about we skip the toilet water for now, yeah?" Laughing, we clean up the sink and return everything to the bag.
Gabe takes the item from me, and without hesitation, he retreats under our bed, a hiding place that we are positive our father would never bother to look at.
Glancing at the bedside clock, I notice it's 8:15. Since I've talked to Bella's grandad most days this week, I know he starts work at nine. He promised to bring Bella with him today, so I have no time to waste. I want to be there, waiting for them to arrive.I still can't believe that someone as perfect as Bella is actually my best friend. What she sees in me, I will never know.
I hurry through the house to make sure I haven't left a mess or forgotten any of my chores before I rush out the door.
"Nate, you've still got over half an hour before you have to leave," I hear Gabe say as I tie my worn sneakers.
"Yeah, but I don't want to be late and risk missing her," I admit, feeling my palms sweat at the thought alone.
"It'll take you less than three minutes to walk there," Gabe shouts as I’m closing the door.
"Yeah, but I can't be late," I shout and sprint off. I sprint with determination, my small legs pushing me forward, until I discover a cool spot under a tree. I decide to settle there and wait patiently. As I sit and tirelessly pace back and forth, my mind is filled with apprehension, dreading the possibility that she won't show up. Then I realize I'm sweating and decide to sit down again. As I lose hope, the sound of a car instantly lifted my spirits, pulling up on the nearby dirt road. That's one of the good things about this forest; hardly anyone comes through here anymore. You can often hear for miles if you listen hard enough. And I'm the master of listening for sounds and voices.You have to be when you live in my house.
I stare anxiously in the direction I know Bella will come from until I see her beautiful, grinning face. As soon as my eyes glimpse her entering the open space, I hurry to her, grab hold of her, and spin her around in a joyful embrace. I’ve been anxiously counting down the days until she’s back again, and finally, she’s here. Gabe was kind enough to help me try to read all her letters and even gave me tips on how to spell the words I needed so I could write back.
Although I am technically a teenager, I feel quite foolish as I struggle to read and write properly, unlike Gabe. He assures me it's because Mom used to read to us when we were babies, taught him all the words and sounds, and helped him with his homework. Since I was only five when she died and not even in preschool when she first got sick, she never got around to it with me. At least, not that I can remember. Gabe helps me when he can, but I know I'm dumb compared to all the other kids my age.Thankfully, Bella doesn't seem to mind.
"So, I brought food and games. Pops also gave me the key to the cabin in case we wanted to stay inside because he said it might rain. What should we do first?" Bella asks as she beams from ear to ear. I love how silly and excitable she is. Sometimes, she talks so fast when she's excited that I can't understand all the words she's saying. I don't mind, though; everything she says should be written as poems.
"Earth to Nathaniel," Bella says, giving me a boop on the nose and making herself giggle as it causes me to blink.
"Sorry, what did you say?" I reply, smiling.
"Me ... you ... cabin ... games ....food ... and TV. Does that sound good?" She laughs, grabbing me by the arm and pulling me along to her grandparents’ cabin.
I used to panic every time I visited Bella here because I was afraid I would get into trouble or that it was some kind of trap they were trying to lure me into. Little by little, I became more comfortable with my visits, and now it feels like home. Better than home, it feels safe. Her grandma and grandpa are so sweet and kind to me, too. Her grandma would occasionally bring delicious cakes or cookies, carefully placing them in a small basket next to Bella's heartfelt letters. A few weeks ago, her grandpa saw me playing in the woods and gave me a brand-new coat for no reason. Apparently, he had bought it for Bella's cousin, but it didn't fit him anymore, so he said I could keep it. A week later, he gave me another coat from Bella's older cousin that was big enough to fit Gabe.
Bella heads inside and immediately gets blankets and pillows from the bedroom. We push the couch back to make room and set up a little den in the middle of the room. We play a board game for a while and watchShrekagain. The movie still makes us giggle. We're almost at the end when I hear the phone ring. My body immediately stiffens. Panic rises within me as my breath hitches and my heart beats faster before I realize what the sound is. Bella runs to the phone and answers it.
"Yeah, we're here ...what? ...oh Pops.. No, it's okay ... It's okay Pops ...yeah, I love you too," I hear Bella say before she hangs up.
"What was that about?" I ask, panicked, my heart racing.I hope to God my dad hasn’t somehow found out where I am.
"Apparently there's an emergency at work. Pops has to leave in a hurry to help. His buddy is picking me up now and taking me back to Nana’s. Sorry, Nathaniel." I can’t stand the sadness I see and feel coming from her, so I know I have to be strong and reassuring because I’m feeling exactly the same way.
I’m helping her clean up the mess and put things back in the bag when I hear a car honking outside. We bolted outside, locking the door firmly behind us. I see a tall man getting out of a truck. He removes a cigarette from his mouth, throwing it on the ground while coughing. As he lifts his hand to his mouth, I get a glimpse of ink creeping out of the sleeves of his jacket and instantly get a bad feeling about him. Bella doesn't seem fazed by it and just walks right up to him.
