Part 17 (1/2)

A blue sky.

A long white string.

Little hands.

Zavions hands.

Big hands.

Mamas hands.

A gorgeous fall day, just the right amount of wind, not too hot and not too cold. Zavion and Mama in Pontchartrain Park, flying the brand-new kite he got for his birthday. He begged to fly it alone and immediately snagged it on a branch and ripped it.

”Im sorry, Mama,” he whispered. ”Im sorry, Im sorry, Im sorry-” He said it over and over again until Mamas arms had opened wide.

”It was a kite,” she said. ”And you were you. Now it is a torn kite”-she put her hands on Zavions cheeks-”and you are still you.” She hugged him so hard they fell over, laughing. They lay on their backs and watched the kite dance against the clouds.

It wasnt the first time she told him about Grandmother Mountain, but it was the time he remembered.

”Grandmother Mountain was only a small pile of rocks and some dirt and a few red spruce trees at first,” Mama said, waving her hand slowly from side to side as she guided the kite in the air. ”Every time she stopped wandering, she grew. In the valley, she found more dirt. By the river, she found more rocks. By the time she came upon Grandfather Mountain, she was a grand mountain. But she still found something when she put down her roots to be near him.” Mama squeezed Zavions arm with her free hand. ”Just like I did with your papa. I wandered into New Orleans, all grown up like a mountain, but I found the one last thing I was missing-someone to be connected to”-she stood up, reaching out her hand to Zavion-”and then I found you-someone to love more than anything in the whole entire world....”

- Zavion squeezed the marble for luck, for luck and to quell the fear that was uncurled and loose and roaming through his body.

Zavion had to find Luna Market.

He began to run.

chapter 34.

HENRY.

Henry ran and ran and ran-

chapter 35.

ZAVION.

Zavion ran and ran and ran-

chapter 36.

HENRY.

A boy turned onto the block. Henry caught him out of the corner of his eye. He had long legs, and a backpack bounced against his shoulder. The boy caught up to Henry. They ran side by side for ten strides or so- Henry was back on the mountain- Racing Wayne- The boy sprinted ahead.

The boy tried to jump over a tree that had fallen across the sidewalk.

His jeans got caught on a branch and he pitched forward, falling on his hands.

Henry watched him wrench himself free and keep on running.

He looked like he was running for his life.

chapter 37.

ZAVION.

Zavion saw the concrete sidewalk.

It looked like the moon close up.

Small craters and drifts of gray-brown mud.

He smelled it too.