Page 48 of No Ordinary Girl
What?! Tell me now! What a tease.
“So what do you think of this case?” he asked. “Pretty fucked up, right?”
He was obviously changing the subject.
“Uh… yeah, it’s so sad. I can’t even imagine.” I thought of little Haley, and my heart broke all over again.
I shouldn’t even be talking to you right now. I should be jotting down notes, trying to figure it all out. I should be finding her.
“The Hendersons are pretty messed up,” I said. “I can’t believe they’re both having affairs.”
“The grass is always greener on the other side, as they say,” he added quietly.
“Hell, no,” I scoffed. “When I have grass, I’m going to take care of it, water it and cut it, and lay on it and appreciate it. I’ll sunbathe, read books, and not once will I look over the fence at the neighbor’s grass.”
He laughed out loud. I didn’t need to be a mind reader to know he thought I was a total goof, but in a good quirky way. “Wow, that’s some lucky grass.”
After a long beat, he added, “I feel the same way, too. I’m gonna love my grass. Never gonna step out on my grass. I mean I’m going to step on my grass, but not going to step out on it, y’know what I mean?”
We both laughed out loud, a small moment of reprieve from this tragedy we’d both been thrown into. I thought about my backyard then, my mother’s little garden and wild flowers. “Maybe I’ll plant a little garden, too.”
“The problem is that people just don’t appreciate what they have,” he said for the second time, and I got the feeling that this subject was personal for him. I wanted to know more.
“What’s your family like?” he asked. “Do your parents love each other?”
I was taken aback by the intimacy of his question, but I was glad to answer it. “We’re lucky,” I started. “We have an amazing dynamic. We’re inseparable. My little sister, Kylie, is ten, and although she can be annoying sometimes, I love her to death.”
He smiled. “You miss ‘em?”
“Hell, yeah.”
“It’s tough being away from home, but you’ll get used to it.”
I hoped that he was right, because I still wasn’t quite used to it. “My parents are a little embarrassing, actually. They’re fond of inappropriate displays of affection in public… always kissing and stuff.”
He smiled. “You have no idea how lucky you are. Your parents actually love each other.”
I was struck by his words. “Your parents don’t? Are they divorced?” He seemed like a boy who was from a broken family; a little lost and lonely.
He turned to me. “Nope… but they probably should be,” he said, and I saw the pain in his eyes.
I wanted to know more. I became uncharacteristically nosy. “Why?”
“My father doesn’t love my mother. He might have when they were first together, but ever since I was a kid, ever since I can remember, his heart’s been somewhere else.”
“What?” My curiosity was killing me. I was being a little shameless, but I couldn’t help myself. “Did he have a mistress?”
“No… it’s not quite like that,” he began. “That’s the problem with being able to read people, isn’t it? Sometimes you see stuff you don’t want to see.”
I nodded. “Yeah, I get you.”Now, go on, will you?
“My father’s been in love with another woman forever. Her name is Kelly. She’s Irish. She moved out here about fifteen years ago, and she has this very charming accent, and this pretty long red hair,” he explained. “She’s nowhere as pretty as my mom, but I totally get why he’s crazy about her. She’s fun, she’s adventurous. She loves beer, pool, and cars. She rides this old-school Harley. And she’s super charming, too, always smiling and asking how you are.”
“You know her? How?”
“She’s a waitress at my dad’s pool hall,” he explained. “She used to pinch my cheek every time she saw me. And finally, two years ago, I told her to knock it off.”
I laughed and I imagined him as a little boy... I’d want to pinch those cheeks, too. “Do you hate her? For cheating with your dad?”
