Part 22 (2/2)
”Moose?” Doc Ollie's sister looks up in surprise.
”I found her! She's here!” Piper yells from another part of the house. Relief shoots through my system.
I duck out the back door, but not fast enough. Piper has run around the house looking for me. She sees me come out the back door.
”I told you not to go in.” Piper's voice drops suddenly as Natalie comes around the house.
”Natalie,” I say, so glad to see her, my insides ache with relief.
”I told you!” Piper shouts.
”Yeah but-” I mumble, staring at Piper, whose face is half lit by the glow of the big yellow moon.
”Stop looking like that!” She shoves me.
”Like what?” I mutter, wondering how I'm supposed to look.
”Stop!” Piper's nails are ready to scratch my eyes out. ”My mom is fine. Buddy said so.” Her voice breaks.
”Okay,” I whisper.
It's quiet up here-a world away from the party below. Only the sound of the night crickets and a distant boat horn. Piper looks as if she might burst. ”Hey, I believe you,” I whisper in my most soothing voice.
Piper lunges at me again. ”She is.”
”Okay, all right.” I lift my arms in the cool night air.
Tears stream down Piper's face. ”I told you to stop looking that way! She's fine!” Piper sobs. ”She's just going to have a baby. That's all.” Piper is crumpled over like an empty dress. ”Say it!” she cries, her voice choked with sobs.
”She's fine, Piper,” I tell her. Natalie is rocking from one foot to another, her eyes scanning Piper and then the ground, Piper and then the ground.
Piper's eyes spit like bacon on the griddle. ”You think you know everything. But you don't. Everyone hates you, Moose.”
”Everyone hates you, Moose,” Nat repeats. ”Not Natalie. Not me,” Nat mutters, touching her chest.
Piper ignores Natalie. ”Jimmy does. You treat him like an imbecile because he doesn't like baseball.”
”I don't treat him like a-”
”Why do you think he's trying so hard to learn to play?”
I grind my teeth.
”Yeah. Annie's teaching him. And Annie . . . you only like her because she has a great throwing arm.”
”There are lots of things I like about Annie,” I whisper. ”Piper, you're just upset. Don't take it out on me.”
”Yeah, name one. Name one thing you like about Annie.”
”She's nice. She's smart. I can trust her.”
”If she couldn't play baseball, you wouldn't be her friend.”
”That's not true.”
”Yeah, it is, and Scout hates you because you're always sure he's after me.”
”Well, he is after you.”
”You don't know anything, do you?” she lashes out at me. ”You're a complete moron like your sister. It runs in your family.” She glares at Natalie, the tears streaming down her face.
”You're a moron!” Piper screams at Natalie.
”Shut up!” I can't help myself. n.o.body says this to Natalie. n.o.body. But then the scene in the kitchen flashes through my mind. The gray, sick, drawn face. The sickly sweet rotting smell.
”What's wrong with your mom, Piper?” I whisper.
”Nothing!” she screams. ”Nothing is wrong!” ”Nothing is wrong!”
But the louder she screams, the more she sees I don't believe her. She shoves me away. ”Can't you see, you moron? Nothing is wrong!” She turns and runs into the house.
When Natalie and I get back down to 64 building, Mrs. Mattaman is waiting for us outside our apartment. I'm not sure what Mrs. Mattaman knows and what she doesn't know, but from the way her eyes are squinting and her foot is tapping, she's clearly hopping mad. ”Go straight to bed, you two.” Her voice is cold and hard. ”I will be back in half an hour to check on you, and you had better be in bed snoring, do you understand me? My kids have no school tomorrow. What about you, Moose?”
I shake my head. It's peculiar we would all be off when it isn't a holiday. Normally I'd be happy about this, but with Mrs. Mattaman so burnt up, I wish I did have school.
”When Mr. Mattaman gets off at eight tomorrow morning you, Moose, will report to our apartment. You and Theresa and Jimmy have a lot of explaining to do, you hear me? Pulling shenanigans on an important night like this . . . shame on you!” She waves her fancy jeweled purse at me.
”Mrs. Mattaman?” I ask as she turns to leave. ”Is Piper's mom okay?”
Mrs. Mattaman stops, her chest heaving. ”I dunno, Moose,” she says without turning back. ”I really don't know.”
PIG HALF IN THE POKE.
Monday, September 9, 1935
The next morning when I wake up, Natalie is staring over me, peering into my eyes like she's doing a wake-up spell.
”What is it?” I ask.
Natalie says nothing, but I can see by the way she's digging her chin in her chest that she's anxious.
I wonder what she made of what happened last night. Did she know she wasn't supposed to go to the warden's house? Did she understand why Piper was yelling at me? Does she know what the word moron moron means? It would be a lot easier to feel sad for Piper if she wasn't so mean. means? It would be a lot easier to feel sad for Piper if she wasn't so mean.
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