Read Online The River's Edge by Tina Sears - Free Book Online

one-way street. He
navigated to avoid the pot holes, taking the curves just right. I could tell he
travelled this road many times before.
    “We’re here.” He turned off the motor and it kicked over once and
died.
    We walked up the steps and entered the
kitchen from the side door. The house was dark and smelled of rotten onions. I
heard the click of a light switch and gradually everything came into focus. The
onions were on the counter in a pool of goo.
    “It stinks in here!” Uncle Butch carefully picked up the mesh bag
and threw it in the trash. He lifted up the phone mounted on the wall and
dialed the number that would connect me to my mother. I would have looked
around more, but the rotten onion smell was burning my eyes. Wendy went into
the other room and turned on the television. Uncle Butch disappeared upstairs
to where the bedrooms were.
    I counted the rings. I knew how sad and alone she was. I thought
of the day she left me here and I felt tears welling up behind my eyelids.
    After five rings, she finally answered the phone. “Hello?”
    I took a deep breath of air. I felt like I had just burst through
the surface after being underwater for too long. “Mom?”
    “Chris, is that you, honey?”
    “Yeah, it’s me. What took you so long to answer? Is everything
okay?”
    “Everything’s fine. I was in the other room, lying down. I didn’t
hear the phone at first, that’s all.” She sighed as if collecting her thoughts.
    I had a whole list of things to tell her about, but all of her
sadness seemed to be vibrating through the phone line, so I said the thing I
was thinking the most. “I miss you.”
    “I miss you too. Are you having a good time?”
    How was I going to tell her that I was having the time of my life
like she said I would? “Yeah, Mom. I’m having fun. Every morning we go down to
the river and—”
    “Christina Maria. I don’t want you near the river. It’s dangerous.
Do you hear me?”
    “Aw, Mom, it’s perfectly safe. All of our friends go down there,
too.”
    “It’s not safe. Some of those currents can be
pretty strong.” I could hear the worry in her voice. “Is everything else okay?”
    “Yeah. I’ve even made some new friends. I went to the dance, too.
I even danced with a guy. His name is Reds.”
    “I told you, sweetie. You’re going to have a great time.”
    “I know.” I didn’t feel much like talking about all the fun I was
having when she was so far away and alone, not having fun. “Mom?”
    “Yes, honey?”
    “Are you doing okay?”
    “I’m fine. Please don’t worry about me. Just concentrate on having
a good summer, okay?”
    “Okay.” But I didn’t want to concentrate on me when I was so
worried about her. Who was going to take care of her when I was so far away?
The bruises I felt inside were back and blood dry. “When can I come home?”
    “Soon, honey. Soon.” I heard a catch in her voice, a gasp for air.
I knew she was crying. I felt sick to my stomach, just like on the day she
left.
    The rotten onions made my eyes burn so I closed them. I opened
them a few seconds later and Uncle Butch was standing in front of me, like he
was listening in on the conversation. His arms were full with a basket of clean
clothes, a bar of soap, and a bottle of shampoo. A faint after-shave smell
drifted in with him.
    He put everything down and reached for the phone. “Don’t hang up.
I want to talk to her.”
    “Uncle Butch wants to talk to you,” I said.
    “Okay, put him on. Bye, honey.”
    “Bye, Mom.” Those two little words sounded so permanent, and I
felt lost and alone. After I handed him the phone I sat down at the kitchen
table.
    “So, tell me about Peter. Have you heard from him?” Uncle Butch
asked.
    My ears perked up. But Mom called my dad Pete, not Peter, so it
sounded strange to me. One of my mom’s favorite expressions was “Oh for Pete’s
sake.” When I was little, I always thought she was talking about my dad. I was
so