Read Online The Mourning After by Rochelle B. Weinstein - Free Book Online Page B

gasp.  It is her, and she is nothing like the woman he breathed in before.  If not for the stale odor, he would never know she is sitting there on his bed, her weight so unobtrusive that it does not make a dent.
    Levon thinks about his grandparents, his mother’s parents—Sid and Lyd to their friends.  They had moved to New York three years ago to escape the heat. When they received the disastrous phone call, they were on the first flight back and holed up in the downstairs guest bedroom.  Grandpa Sidney, a robust, handsome man with crooked teeth encouraged Madeline to eat, declared that she’s “too skinny,” while skeletal Lydia and her “proper nose” turned a blind eye to her daughter’s rapidly diminishing frame.  Levon overheard them when he carried their luggage from the car.  Grandma Lydia said, “This is just terrible, Sid, terrible.”  Then she added, “But Maddy looks good without those extra pounds.” 
    Levon seethes inside. 
    His mother says his name again.
    He thought she would have given up by now.
    Then she does something unexpected. When his mother lays down on the bed beside him, curls her arms around his body, and hugs him, the touch of her body leaves Levon in a swell of tears and confusion.  He forgets the stench and concentrates on the feel of her arms around him.  It’s better than any Shalimar hug he’s ever had.  He closes his eyes and prays he isn’t dreaming.

Chapter 6
    High school students are bursting with insecurities left over from junior high, and Levon had a menagerie that he carried around with him through the ninth grade and the beginning of tenth. Some kids worried about being liked, some worried about their bodies, some worried about the secrets they kept from their parents, while others worried about grades, fitting in, saying no, and the opposite sex.  Levon, in his ability to be fair and indiscriminate, worried about all of the above.
    David’s death sparked a whole new set of uncertainties that his presence had once prevented.  Without David, who was he?  When kids directed their blaming fingers his way, who would defend him if not his gallant brother?
    Levon mulled over these questions while he brushed his teeth and got himself ready for school.  His mother and Chloe were in the other room quarreling over her feeding tube, which Chloe felt entitled to be irritated about.  She said it didn’t fit into her clothes, and it was especially annoying when she and her friends went swimming.  Their bodies were changing and maturing.  The girls of ten noticed and talked about things like a plastic tube that protruded from one’s belly button.
    Levon half expects to run into David in the hallway that connects their rooms when he steps out of the bathroom.  Always, in the mornings, they would meet by chance—or on purpose—at the top of the stairs, and race down the steps for breakfast.  Instead, Levon is greeted by his mother’s voice wafting through the empty corridor repeating to Chloe the reasons why her feeding tube is essential to her health.  Chloe doesn’t relent until her mother promises to talk to Dr. Gerald about any new developments in gene therapy that might make arguments over the feeding tube moot.  Taking the steps two at a time, Levon greets his father at the breakfast table. 
    The kitchen is Levon’s favorite room in the house and not because it’s where he receives his daily ration of food.  The Kellers had recently completed an extensive renovation, and Levon found the newly designed area his favorite place in the house.  This was where they ate all their meals; holidays and special occasions were reserved for the formal dining room. The most noticeable difference is the absence of the wall that had once separated the room in two and has been knocked down, leaving an airy space for the family to gather. 
    Madeline had fought Odalys, the designer, and unassuming Odalys won. They were proud of Odalys.  Besides, her eye for