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Authors: Dana Reinhardt
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closet. Inside he put everything too special to sit unprotected on his shelf. The kinds of things he didn’t want anybody, mainly me, to touch.
I have to admit, I looked for that box once Boaz left home, but like so much else, it had gone missing.
“She’s out on the front steps,” I say. “Waiting. I’m going to my room.”
Five minutes pass before I hear Bo’s door open. I hear him on the stairs. I hear the creaking of the screen door and then I hear it close again. I wait for the sound of Christina’s car starting up, the sound of my brother finally going somewhere, but that sound never comes.
He’s only gone about half an hour, and when he comes back he goes straight to his cave. I hustle down the stairs and catch Christina just as she’s about to pull away from the curb. Boaz’s window looks out to the front, and now that I know he actually lifts his shade, I feel the need to make this quick.
“So?”
I can see that she’s been crying. Puffy eyes and splotched cheeks. She wipes her face with the hem of her tank top and in the process I catch the briefest glimpse of her bare stomach.
It strikes me now that seeing each other again couldn’t possibly have been easy for either of them. I have nothing, no point of reference. No way to know how that must feel.
“Well, thanks,” I offer.
I also, clearly, have no understanding of how to talk to girls who’ve been crying.
“For what?”
“For getting him out of the house.”
“We went for a walk,” she says. “He wouldn’t get in the car. I wanted to take him to this place we used to go, this spot in the woods near the pond, but he refused to get in my car. I asked if he still had something against my driving. He used to be the worst backseat driver. Always criticizing. But no, he said he wouldn’t get in anyone’s car. No car at all.”
“Okay …” I have no idea what else to say.
All I know is I want to reach out and stroke her cheek, to erase the redness, the puffiness, the sadness.
“So I said,
Well, if you don’t ride around in cars anymore, how’d you even get home from the airport?
” She readjusts the mirror.
Then she turns to me. “He said he walked.”
I remember the night Boaz came home. How he just appeared at the door. Suddenly. Silently.
“He needs help, Levi. Beyond what you, or your family, or certainly I can give him. You all must know that.”
“He’s been deemed healthy.”
I can’t believe I say this. It sounded so lame when Dov said it to me and it sounds even lamer now.
“What does that mean?”
“I’m not really sure.” I look up to Boaz’s window. I can’t tell for the glare of the sun if the shade is up or down. “You’d better go.”
I straighten up and put my hand on the roof of her car. I give it a slap and she takes this as a cue to drive away without looking back.
SIX
I GET THE JOB AT V IDEORAMA and I break the news to Zim while watching him shoot baskets.
He takes it pretty well.
“That’s okay, man,” he says. “I’m still waiting to hear from the hair salon. I think my chances there are excellent.”
The thing is, he’s not kidding. He’s not going to cut hair or anything, he’s just going to sweep it up off the floor, but he’s hoping if he proves himself, he may get the chance to wash it from time to time.
“All that lady hair,” he says wistfully. “So totally awesome.” In case you hadn’t already figured it out, Zim is kind of a freak.
Pearl got a job at Frozurt, this frozen yogurt place three blocks from Videorama.
Finals are almost over. Then there’ll be a whole round of parties I’m likely to get invited to now that I’m a minor celebrity at school.
I’ve been waiting for news of standardized test scores or a winning baseball team or some sort of PTA meeting to bumpthe following words, built out of magnetized black block letters, from the big white sign in front of the main entrance to the school:
WELCOME HOME, BAY STATE HIGH GRADUATE
BOAZ
I have to admit, I looked for that box once Boaz left home, but like so much else, it had gone missing.
“She’s out on the front steps,” I say. “Waiting. I’m going to my room.”
Five minutes pass before I hear Bo’s door open. I hear him on the stairs. I hear the creaking of the screen door and then I hear it close again. I wait for the sound of Christina’s car starting up, the sound of my brother finally going somewhere, but that sound never comes.
He’s only gone about half an hour, and when he comes back he goes straight to his cave. I hustle down the stairs and catch Christina just as she’s about to pull away from the curb. Boaz’s window looks out to the front, and now that I know he actually lifts his shade, I feel the need to make this quick.
“So?”
I can see that she’s been crying. Puffy eyes and splotched cheeks. She wipes her face with the hem of her tank top and in the process I catch the briefest glimpse of her bare stomach.
It strikes me now that seeing each other again couldn’t possibly have been easy for either of them. I have nothing, no point of reference. No way to know how that must feel.
“Well, thanks,” I offer.
I also, clearly, have no understanding of how to talk to girls who’ve been crying.
“For what?”
“For getting him out of the house.”
“We went for a walk,” she says. “He wouldn’t get in the car. I wanted to take him to this place we used to go, this spot in the woods near the pond, but he refused to get in my car. I asked if he still had something against my driving. He used to be the worst backseat driver. Always criticizing. But no, he said he wouldn’t get in anyone’s car. No car at all.”
“Okay …” I have no idea what else to say.
All I know is I want to reach out and stroke her cheek, to erase the redness, the puffiness, the sadness.
“So I said,
Well, if you don’t ride around in cars anymore, how’d you even get home from the airport?
” She readjusts the mirror.
Then she turns to me. “He said he walked.”
I remember the night Boaz came home. How he just appeared at the door. Suddenly. Silently.
“He needs help, Levi. Beyond what you, or your family, or certainly I can give him. You all must know that.”
“He’s been deemed healthy.”
I can’t believe I say this. It sounded so lame when Dov said it to me and it sounds even lamer now.
“What does that mean?”
“I’m not really sure.” I look up to Boaz’s window. I can’t tell for the glare of the sun if the shade is up or down. “You’d better go.”
I straighten up and put my hand on the roof of her car. I give it a slap and she takes this as a cue to drive away without looking back.
SIX
I GET THE JOB AT V IDEORAMA and I break the news to Zim while watching him shoot baskets.
He takes it pretty well.
“That’s okay, man,” he says. “I’m still waiting to hear from the hair salon. I think my chances there are excellent.”
The thing is, he’s not kidding. He’s not going to cut hair or anything, he’s just going to sweep it up off the floor, but he’s hoping if he proves himself, he may get the chance to wash it from time to time.
“All that lady hair,” he says wistfully. “So totally awesome.” In case you hadn’t already figured it out, Zim is kind of a freak.
Pearl got a job at Frozurt, this frozen yogurt place three blocks from Videorama.
Finals are almost over. Then there’ll be a whole round of parties I’m likely to get invited to now that I’m a minor celebrity at school.
I’ve been waiting for news of standardized test scores or a winning baseball team or some sort of PTA meeting to bumpthe following words, built out of magnetized black block letters, from the big white sign in front of the main entrance to the school:
WELCOME HOME, BAY STATE HIGH GRADUATE
BOAZ
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