Total pages in book: 142
Estimated words: 135522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 135522 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 678(@200wpm)___ 542(@250wpm)___ 452(@300wpm)
“Mom,” I say, shocked by her tone, but she’s already turned and left for her room. The door slams behind her. After a moment, I turn to Dad. “I know you got a new job, but five in the morning?”
His sadness turns into resentment when he looks at me. “Oh, you, too? I’m gonna get it from you, too?” He wipes his forehead of sweat, then swipes his keys out of a dish on the counter.
“Dad, I was just asking.”
“I’m going to the store to get your grandmother some meds.” He stops at the back door. “Guess she picked something up at the festival. If you didn’t have your head so far up your own butt, maybe you’d think about these things before taking your elderly grandmother to a crowded place with so many sick people. It isn’t safe. She’s not the spring chicken she used to be, Cole.” Then he heads out before I can answer, door slapping shut at his back. I see Porridge in the window as she follows him for a few paces, stops, then sits and just watches him go, panting.
Every time after my parents fight, the entire house feels like its soul has been sucked out by an enormous vacuum and ejected into outer space, leaving the house feeling twenty times emptier than it was before. The silence nearly hurts my ears.
I slowly move to the couch to return the pillow to its rightful place, then set my breakfast down on the coffee table. Staring at the sweetly-packed container, I find myself thinking about Noah’s parents eating breakfast together. The bubbly, infectious sound of their laughter. The smell of toast and coffee.
I guess I’ll eat Mrs. Reed’s breakfast as soon as I change.
I hope I can still imagine it smiling back at me.
I peek into Nan’s room down the hall. She’s sitting up in bed with her electronic reader and glasses. The moment she sees me, she gives me the biggest eye roll ever and smirks. “Is World War 6 over with out there?”
Despite the heaviness in my chest, I put on a quirky smile. “It has ended, though there doesn’t seem to be a clear winner.”
“There never is when war’s concerned.” She brings her voice down. “You doing alright, hon?”
My smile persists. “Of course. But what about you? Dad said you caught something at the festival?”
“He’s overreacting. I swear, I coughed once and the man loses his marbles. It’s his guilt speakin’,” she explains with a roll of her eyes. “His guilt because he’s gone all the time. Now I won’t dare to presume what he’s doin’ out that late, but it’s clear somethin’ isn’t right with those two, and if neither are gonna be adult enough to figure it out …” She lets out a long sigh—which then turns into a rather nasty coughing fit. “Shoot, maybe I did pick somethin’ up.”
“Can I get you some water? Cough drops? We have some good ones in the medicine cabinet I can fish out if you—”
“Not a chance in frozen Hell,” she cuts me off. “Those cough drops taste like ass. I’d sooner feed them to my mortal enemy, and she’s no longer with us, God rest her wicked soul. And I’ve already got myself some water here by my side. Now can I get back to my book already? It was gettin’ to a spicy part, and this may come as a surprise, but your grandma does not have enough spice in her life, and surely not with your dear parents bickerin’ like they do.”
“Of course.” I start to back out of her room.
Then she adds: “That’s all we can do, hon. Make light of the big dramas in our lives. It helps keep our spirits up. After you live enough life, you realize how so unimportant everything is. We’ve got so little time to do what we want to do as it is, don’t we? The math tells you we don’t have enough time to possibly do it all in, either. So why are we wastin’ so much time yellin’ at each other?” She makes a face. “Seriously, by this point, it’s just annoying.” She adjusts her glasses. “Now get on goin’, sweetie, I have got a steamy scene I’ve slogged through twenty-three chapters to get to. These two sure love to drag it on. Got enough sexual tension between them to power Houston and Dallas and everythin’ between.”
I smile. “Love you, Nan.”
“Go on, go on.” She returns her attention to her book as I back out of the room, gently closing the door.
After getting changed into my Strong Fitness Zone uniform, I make a stop by my mom’s room. I knock on the door. “Mom?” She says nothing. I poke my head in and find her on the bed, rolled onto her side, quietly breathing in and out. I suppose she decided to sleep away her sadness. I leave her be and take my grandma’s indirect advice of keeping my spirits up as I take my breakfast and head out through the back door. I give Porridge a nice pat. “Don’t go making a date with some other dog in the neighborhood, girl, I’ll be back for our story time under the stars tonight, promise,” then make my way through the side gate to my car.