Read Online House Arrest by K.A. Holt - Free Book Online Page B

SCREWUP.

    Dear Mrs. B,
I’m sorry I threw your plant.
I’m sorry it crashed against the wall
making that loud KAPOW sound
that, for just a millisecond,
settled my bones,
a big deep satisfying settling
that said
yes
that is exactly the noise I need to hear
right at this moment,
that KAPOW really hits the spot
so to speak.
I’m sorry if it scared you
or bothered you
or made you think less of me
as a human being.
I will do better.

    After all of this,
all of the Carla Ramirez stuff,
Mom can’t still be thinking about doing it.
I know she can’t be
even with all the paperwork coming in the mail
and the people calling
and Mary saying she’ll need a new case
once Levi goes away .
I can’t believe she’s going to do it.
I won’t believe she’s going to do it.
Levi is the real heart of the family
and Mom is not like Dad,
she could never leave the heart of the family behind.
Never.
Never.

    Don’t be naughty, you little brat. That’s what Mary said.
I totally heard it
under her breath
when Levi was smiling and playing his favorite game:
Drop the Bottle and Make Mary Crazy.
She called him a brat.
Luckily he doesn’t know what that is.
But I do.
I sure do.

    She’s so mean to him, Mom.
Don’t exaggerate.
Exaggerating would be to say she grows fangs
and talons and
flies around the room
shooting fire
from her cow eyes. That’s exaggerating.
Timothy.
She’s mean to him. I don’t like her.
OK. Well. We have no one else. I know. So what do you want me to do?
I don’t know. Pay closer attention.
Timothy.
I’m sorry.
She’s not mean to him.
She is.
Tell you what.
If I see her being mean to him, I’ll fire her. On the spot.
OK?
OK.
Good night, T-man.
Don’t call me T-man.

WEEK 3 1
    How would I know?
Am I a plant specialist?
Can I just yell PLANT POWERS ACTIVATE
and know all of the plant things?
James.
Come on.
The one we decided on is almost just right, though.
It is smallish,
the leaves are wrinkly,
and even though they are plain green
instead of purple and green,
at least the flowers are purple.
I am getting the sense that Mrs. B
really likes purple.
Based on her clothes
and her smell.
Is it weird that I think she smells
well
a little purple?
Never mind.
Just . . . thanks for taking me today
to find this replacement plant
that is partially purple
kind of like Mrs. B is
herself.

    That James. This is what Mrs. B said.
Not, W ell, thank-you, Timothy !
Or, You’re so sweet, Timothy !
That James. And then she got this look on her face
like she was going to happy-cry
which made me feel sweaty.
That James.
He’s a keeper, huh? And I was like,
Um, I have no choice?
The court says I have to keep him. Like James is a watchdog.
A plant-buying,
secret dropper-offer of food,
sometimes red-car-driving,
most times grouchy-faced,
shoe-providing
guard dog.
Mrs. B loved the plant.
And I think she might love you, James
even though you have not met
in actual real life.
She put the plant right next to the computer
and smiled so big
I could count her teeth
even the silver one way, way in back.

    I catch myself sometimes
wondering how many wallets
this or that equals.
How many people
not paying attention
could instead be paying
for a lot of other things.

    Oh, hey, Carla Ramirez! Those were my exact words
when I opened the door to . . .
Surprise!
Another visit!
From our favorite flying squirrel!
Sigh.
Levi had rolled under the TV stand,
totally twisted up in his tubes and wires,
like a squirming, smiling knot of TV cords.
I dragged him out,
dusted him off,
gave him a quick suction.
Carla Ramirez kept her distance,
not too close to the explosive baby,
not too close to the Joker-smiling big brother.
She found Mom in the kitchen,
washing bottles.
And Mary on the back porch,
having a lunch break
in the sun
with, of course, zero cares in the world.

    First Carla Ramirez rule:
Timothy can never be with Levi unsupervised. Second Carla Ramirez rule:
Timothy can never be