Read Online Leaving Paradise by Simone Elkeles - Free Book Online

change.”
    Yeah, right. All I need is a little magic dust and a fairy godmother. I’m not holding my breath for either of those.

thirteen
    Caleb
    “Caleb, I hope you passed the tests,” my mom calls out from the kitchen.
    I’m washing my hands for the third time tonight. I’ve got paint up to my elbows, compliments of my community service job. The old couple from the senior center signed up to have their kitchen painted a bright pink to match their fake pink roses on their kitchen table. “I tried my best,” I say.
    “Let’s hope your best was good enough.”
    I dry my hands on a towel, wondering when she’ll stop treating me like a stranger. One day I’m going to cut through her plastic exterior. One day soon.
    The phone rings. My mom answers, then hands it to me. “It’s for you. It’s Damon.”
    I take the phone. “Hey.”
    “The manager from The Trusty Nail said you were late.”
    Oh, shit. “I had to stay after school because—”
    “I’ve heard it all, don’t waste your breath,” he barks out, cutting me off. “Zero tolerance. You sign in for community service on time. Period. You got it?”
    “I got it.”
    “This goes on your record, Caleb. I can petition a judge to have you sent back to the DOC. Keep screwing up and I’ll do it . . .”
    He’s still babbling, but I’m too pissed off to listen.
    “. . . I told you to be a model citizen and be on time for your job. You let me down. Don’t let it happen again.”
    “It wasn’t my fault,” I argue.
    “If I had a dime for every time I heard those words, I’d be a millionaire.”
    Hardass. “I get it, Damon. Loud and clear.”
    “Good. I’ll check in with you tomorrow,” he says, then hangs up.
    When I put the phone down, I realize Mom’s been listening to my half of the conversation. She’s staring at me, but there’s an emptiness in her eyes—like she’s not all there. “Is everything okay?”
    “Yep,” I say. Just peachy.
    “Good.” She grabs her purse off the couch. “I’m off to the grocery store. I’m going to bake my Spaghetti Spectacular for the Fall Festival Saturday night.”
    Mom is always volunteering for shit. She loves the attention, I guess. Her Spaghetti Spectacular dish has won the Ladies’ Auxiliary best recipe award every year. She’s even got the awards neatly stacked on top of the mantle in the living room.
    Mom flies out the door in her usual flurry of chaos.
    “She’s nuts, you know,” Leah says from the kitchen doorway.
    Today my sister is wearing black jeans with chains dripping from them. The end of one chain is attached to one of her pant legs and the other end is attached to the other pant leg. How can she walk like that?
    I watch Mom drive down the driveway as I look out the living room window. “Tell me about it.”
    “Do you think things will ever get back to normal?” Leah asks, hope filling her voice.
    “They’d better.” I’m going to spend my days trying, starting right now with my sister. She’s about to walk back into the kitchen, but I blurt out, “Do you ever talk to, you know, Maggie?”
    She freezes, then shakes her head slowly.
    “Not once since the accident?”
    She shakes her head again. “I don’t want to talk about it, Caleb. Please don’t make me talk about it. Not now.”
    “When, then?” She doesn’t answer. “One day we’re going to discuss it, Leah. You can’t avoid the conversation forever.” I put my jacket on, grab a basketball from the garage, and head outside. I avoid even looking at the Armstrong’s house as I head for the park in the opposite direction. I need to shoot some baskets to clear my mind.
    My screwed-up sister is the one who needs group therapy. I’m the one who was locked up and everyone who stayed home is a frickin’ nutcase. Oh, the comic irony.
    ————
    The next day I’m sitting in the principal’s office. Mom and Dad had to come with me to hear whether or not I’ve passed the tests. God this sucks.
    Meyer opens