Read Online Define "Normal" by Julie Anne Peters - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Julie Anne Peters
Tags: JUV013060
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stopped. Her eyes met mine.
“Usually Mom’s home when I get here,” I said.
Mrs. Luther exhaled relief. But Jazz muttered, “Saved your butt, huh, Mom?”
“It’s okay if I’m alone, Mrs. Luther,” I added. “Really.” I opened the car door.
“I don’t know—”
“Maybe she left me a message,” I cut in. “Yes, I’m sure she did. I probably just missed it, since I was in such a hurry. I’ll go check.” I slid out and raced for the door. The sleet had stopped; now it was icicle cold. Or maybe that was me.
On the way to the kitchen I flicked on all the lights. A minute later I ran back out to the curb. The passenger side window scrolled down electrically. Jazz had moved to the front bucket seat. Holding up a folded sheet of paper, I leaned in and said, “I did miss it. It must’ve fallen off the fridge. They went to a double feature at the new mall.” I thumbed up the street. “They should be home any minute.”
Mrs. Luther hesitated. “All right, Antonia,” she finally said. “You seem like a responsible person.”
Jazz clucked. “Compared to me, she means.”
Her mother added, “You call me if they’re not home by ten.”
I thanked her again for dinner. I thanked Jazz for the swim lesson.
“Yeah, no sweat,” she said. As the window scrolled up, Jazz eyed the note in my hand, then looked back at me. She held my eyes.
She knows, I thought. She knows the paper is blank.
Chapter 13
I sat by the phone, waiting. What else could I do? Call the police? Call 911? Sure, and say what? My family is missing?
The clock ticked and ticked. It got later and later, darker and darker. Every time the refrigerator kicked on, I freaked.
“Okay, Antonia. Think this through,” I said aloud. “Let’s say she finally got up the nerve to drive again. Where would she take two little kids on a Saturday night?”
There were tons of possibilities. The movies—why not? Because we didn’t go to the movies. Crowds made Mom nervous. How about the rec center? No, it closed at eight-thirty. For a drive? My stomach clenched. At night? Off a cliff?
My head fell into my hands. “Please, God,” I whispered. “Please make them be okay.” Just then the phone rang.
I snatched up the receiver. “Hello?”
There was a heavy silence. Then a weak voice said, “Antonia? Could you come and get us?”
“Michael!” My heart crashed through the floor. “Where are you? Are you all right? Where’s Mom? Is Chuckie with you?”
Michael sniffled.
“Okay,” I said more calmly. “Just tell me where you are.”
“I don’t know.” He sniffled again. “In a hotel.”
“What hotel? Where?”
“I don’t know!” he shouted.
“Okay, take it easy. Is Mom there?”
Michael paused. “She can’t come to the phone.”
A vision materialized in my head. A crashed car. A woman lying in a pool of blood. It made me shudder, and I banished it. “Can you see the name anywhere? Is it on the phone or the door? Is there any writing paper with the hotel’s name on it? Look around, Michael.”
He said, “I’m not in the room. I snuck out.”
A siren blared in the background, then a roar. A close one. Airplanes, I thought. He must be in a phone booth by the airport. “Is there a neon sign anywhere by the hotel? There must be something. Look.” I didn’t mean to sound frantic.
“I can’t read it,” Michael said in a tiny voice. “I don’t know the words.”
“Well, spell it.”
He spelled, “W-y-f-a-e-r-i-n.”
I wrote it down. Sounded it out. Something like Wayfair Inn. “What else do you see?”
“A bar across the street. We stopped there. Me and Chuckie stayed in the car.”
A bar? “Can you read the bar’s name?”
“No.”
Great, I thought.
“But I remember it,” he added. “Lucky Lady Saloon. Mom said, “Lucky lady, that’s me.’ And she went inside.”
My heart sank again, this time with a thud. “Good, Michael. Okay. I think I can find you. Is there a number on that
“Usually Mom’s home when I get here,” I said.
Mrs. Luther exhaled relief. But Jazz muttered, “Saved your butt, huh, Mom?”
“It’s okay if I’m alone, Mrs. Luther,” I added. “Really.” I opened the car door.
“I don’t know—”
“Maybe she left me a message,” I cut in. “Yes, I’m sure she did. I probably just missed it, since I was in such a hurry. I’ll go check.” I slid out and raced for the door. The sleet had stopped; now it was icicle cold. Or maybe that was me.
On the way to the kitchen I flicked on all the lights. A minute later I ran back out to the curb. The passenger side window scrolled down electrically. Jazz had moved to the front bucket seat. Holding up a folded sheet of paper, I leaned in and said, “I did miss it. It must’ve fallen off the fridge. They went to a double feature at the new mall.” I thumbed up the street. “They should be home any minute.”
Mrs. Luther hesitated. “All right, Antonia,” she finally said. “You seem like a responsible person.”
Jazz clucked. “Compared to me, she means.”
Her mother added, “You call me if they’re not home by ten.”
I thanked her again for dinner. I thanked Jazz for the swim lesson.
“Yeah, no sweat,” she said. As the window scrolled up, Jazz eyed the note in my hand, then looked back at me. She held my eyes.
She knows, I thought. She knows the paper is blank.
Chapter 13
I sat by the phone, waiting. What else could I do? Call the police? Call 911? Sure, and say what? My family is missing?
The clock ticked and ticked. It got later and later, darker and darker. Every time the refrigerator kicked on, I freaked.
“Okay, Antonia. Think this through,” I said aloud. “Let’s say she finally got up the nerve to drive again. Where would she take two little kids on a Saturday night?”
There were tons of possibilities. The movies—why not? Because we didn’t go to the movies. Crowds made Mom nervous. How about the rec center? No, it closed at eight-thirty. For a drive? My stomach clenched. At night? Off a cliff?
My head fell into my hands. “Please, God,” I whispered. “Please make them be okay.” Just then the phone rang.
I snatched up the receiver. “Hello?”
There was a heavy silence. Then a weak voice said, “Antonia? Could you come and get us?”
“Michael!” My heart crashed through the floor. “Where are you? Are you all right? Where’s Mom? Is Chuckie with you?”
Michael sniffled.
“Okay,” I said more calmly. “Just tell me where you are.”
“I don’t know.” He sniffled again. “In a hotel.”
“What hotel? Where?”
“I don’t know!” he shouted.
“Okay, take it easy. Is Mom there?”
Michael paused. “She can’t come to the phone.”
A vision materialized in my head. A crashed car. A woman lying in a pool of blood. It made me shudder, and I banished it. “Can you see the name anywhere? Is it on the phone or the door? Is there any writing paper with the hotel’s name on it? Look around, Michael.”
He said, “I’m not in the room. I snuck out.”
A siren blared in the background, then a roar. A close one. Airplanes, I thought. He must be in a phone booth by the airport. “Is there a neon sign anywhere by the hotel? There must be something. Look.” I didn’t mean to sound frantic.
“I can’t read it,” Michael said in a tiny voice. “I don’t know the words.”
“Well, spell it.”
He spelled, “W-y-f-a-e-r-i-n.”
I wrote it down. Sounded it out. Something like Wayfair Inn. “What else do you see?”
“A bar across the street. We stopped there. Me and Chuckie stayed in the car.”
A bar? “Can you read the bar’s name?”
“No.”
Great, I thought.
“But I remember it,” he added. “Lucky Lady Saloon. Mom said, “Lucky lady, that’s me.’ And she went inside.”
My heart sank again, this time with a thud. “Good, Michael. Okay. I think I can find you. Is there a number on that
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