I Left Long Before You Looked novel · Chapter 9 of 24

Chapter 9: Second Kid

My mother ate dinner at our card table with her work jacket still on, and she inspected Cal's refrigerator before she sat down.

"Two kinds of mustard and one yogurt," she said.

"The yogurt is not for sharing," Cal said.

"I can see that. It's labeled in marker." She took the lid off the casserole. "You'll share this."

Cal looked at the casserole and forgot about his yogurt.

There were four chairs, and one was a milk crate.

Sadie took the milk crate without being asked, and my mother watched her do it.

For a while nobody said anything useful, and we passed the potatoes.

"So," my mother said at last, to her plate. "You hit a man with a wall."

"I didn't hit him," I said. "He fell off one."

"Cal showed me the video on the stairs. The man swung like a wet sock." She wiped her mouth. "I haven't seen anything that good since the Fourth of July boat parade."

Cal choked on a potato.

Sadie ducked her head so her hair fell over her face, and I heard her laughing into her napkin, helplessly.

Then she stopped.

She stopped on purpose, and put the napkin down, and looked at me.

"Sorry," she said.

"You're allowed to laugh at Brody."

"I know. But I don't think I know the difference anymore." Her mouth shook. "I don't know when it's okay."

My mother put down her fork.

"Sadie Joy," she said. "I'm going to say something to you once. Then I'm going to eat my dinner."

"Yes, ma'am."

"You were my second kid for eighteen years. You ate at my table on Tuesdays and you cried on my porch when your dad left, and I'd lie down in traffic for you." She looked at her. "You made my son small. For eleven years he got smaller every time you laughed, and I watched it, and I said nothing, because I figured you'd learn. That part is mine, and I own it."

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