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“The other day? You guys have been keeping this from me for days?”
“He knew you’d be upset.”
“That coward! Of course, I’m upset. Why aren’t you upset, too? I can’t believe you agreed to this.” Sadie’s small hands are fisted at her side, and her face is turning red.
“I know, but Van really wanted this. I couldn’t say no.” Fischl gives her daughter a sad smile.
“What about you?” Sadie swings toward Uncle Coop.
He raises his hands. “It was Van’s decision.”
“You’re his dad, aren’t you?”
“Sadie, that’s enough.” Fischl rises to her feet. “There are a lot of changes happening in our family, and we need to be gentle with each other.”
Sadie clamps her lips together as if trying to keep herself from saying something she’ll regret. I step forward and angle my big body between her and her mom. Gazing down at Sadie’s frustrated face, I give her a small chin nod toward the door. “Let’s go. You can vent in the truck,” I say quietly.
Outside, she releases a small shout of irritation before climbing into the passenger seat. Silently she fumes next to me. When I’m mad, I don’t want anyone talking to me, so I don't bother her with a bunch of questions. We’re almost to school before she starts talking.
“He had a concussion last year. It was bad. One minute he was running down the field and the next he didn’t move for what seemed like hours. When they lifted him onto the stretcher, his arm flopped down by his side like he was…dead.” She stops to collect herself. “After he woke up, he started vomiting, and his head hurt so much he couldn't talk. We took him home, and it seemed like he didn’t even know who we were. He was mean and snapped at us all the time. The doctor said it was a common side effect of a brain injury. A brain injury, Dunc! From football!”
I nod because what else can I say?
Sadie continues, “Mom cried almost every day. He was a junior, so he didn’t play much after that, and at the end of the season, Mom begged him not to play again. When we moved here and he didn’t try out, we thought…he was done with it.”
“Guess it’s hard when you love something to give it up like that.”
“Maybe.” She doesn’t want to hear it so I shut up because it’s none of my business. I park and help her down out of the truck. A few of our classmates stare at us with questions in their eyes as I keep my arm draped around Sadie’s back. She doesn’t notice—either my arm or their attention—as she scans the now empty practice field for Van.
“He’s probably inside showering right now.”
She lets out a huff. “Why can’t he love chess?”
“Probably not enough violence.”
“He can throw pieces at his opponent. Also, I watchedThe Queen’s Gambit,and there’s a lot of stress in that game.”
Her exasperation is adorable.
“Why are you grinning at me?” she asks with narrowed eyes.
“Nervous reaction.”
“Right.” She rolls her eyes. “Where would Van be now?”
The grin on my face slides right off. Why’s she so obsessed with him? I’m right here. “No idea. Class is about to start.”
This perks her up. “Oh good. I’ll see him there.”
“How many classes do you have with him?”
“Almost all of them. We planned it that way so I wouldn’t—I mean, we wouldn’t be alone.”
I notice her slip and wonder what that means. Why would she be afraid of being alone? I don’t know enough about Sadie’s life before she moved here. Van would know, but I don’t want to go to him. The perfect person to talk about Sadie is right at home. Fischl. I bet she’d be thrilled to talk about her kids. That’s how parents are wired.
“I’ll see you at lunch then. Save me a seat in Algebra.” At least I end the day with Sadie. Maybe I should change my schedule so that it’s me in all her classes, not Van.
“Hey, can I ask you a question?” Sadie touches my arm. She looks up at me with a sweet, pleading expression, and if she asked me to fly to the moon, I would have jetted off right there powered by her sweetness.
