Chasing Jupiter (14 page)

My head pounded and I felt ill.
I have to make things okay. I have to do something
.

I ran to my room and grabbed the money jar from my night-stand. With trembling hands, I pulled out the thirty-four dollars and clenched it in my fist. Then I crept down the stairs and knocked on my parents’ door.

Mama gulped before saying, “Come in.”

I pushed the door open. “It’s me.”

“Come in, Scarlett,” Dad said. His arms were wrapped around Mama’s waist.

I stepped into the room, shutting the door behind me. My eyes darted around the bedroom. I hadn’t been allowed in very often. The door was always shut. The room seemed big and empty, filled with laundry baskets and Dad’s dirty overalls.

“Um, I …” My throat felt clogged and thick. I swallowed and held out the money. “Here. Cliff and I wanted to give this to you both. It’ll help with something.”

Dad shook his head. “No, Scarlett. We couldn’t.”

I placed the money on the dresser. It lay in a small pathetic heap. Not very much, but still probably more than Mama and Dad had in the bank.

“Just take it. Please.”

I turned to leave.

“Scarlett?” Mama whispered. She pressed her lips together, tears in her eyes. “Thank you.”

I nodded and left, heading back up the stairs.

T
he next morning, Mama and Dad sat us down for a family talk. Without Grandpop Barley.

Cliff was the first one to notice. He sat on the edge of his seat, twitching his legs while his eyes darted back and forth across the room. “Where’s Grandpop Barley?”

Mama took a deep breath. “That’s what this discussion is about.”

I chewed my lip and leaned back, pressing my fingers into the floral upholstery on the sofa.

Dad cleared his throat and glanced at Mama. “We think …” he sighed. “Grandpop Barley isn’t himself anymore. He’s been acting strange for a while, but lately it’s just gotten … worse.” He let out a deep breath. “We thought having him here would be okay, until last night. Then we realized that his mental sickness isn’t just bad for him, it’s putting you both in danger too.”

I sat up. “Dad, we’re fine. Neither of us is …”

“Scarlett.” His voice was low and firm. “Show me your hand.”

My insides felt like they’d sunk to the pit of my stomach. Slowly, I raised my hand. Small red cuts covered my palm.

Mama winced at the sight. “You see, honey? We just …” She glanced at Dad again. “We realized last night that we have no other choice.”

Cliff licked his lips. “No other choice than what?” His voice sounded hoarse and tense.

“We’re sending Grandpop to a home.”

The words didn’t sink in.
A home?
I blinked. “I don’t understand. This is his home.”

Dad shook his head. “I mean a new home. Someplace where he can be taken care of and watched. Somewhere he can’t hurt himself or anyone else.”

Numbness spread across my entire body. The kind of numbness where I couldn’t think—couldn’t speak. All I could do was stare at my parents. And wonder what kind of a cruel world I’d been placed in.

The sound of the doorbell jerked me out of my numbness. I stood, my body tingling. “I should get that.” I walked toward the door, feeling as if I was living in some other universe, watching myself from the outside.
This can’t really be happening, can it?

I opened the door and found myself face-to-face with Frank Leggett. He was pacing the step, a frown tugging at his mouth. When he saw me he stopped and ran a hand through his hair. “I just heard.”

I blinked.
That was fast. How did he …

“Is she okay?” Frank’s voice was etched with concern.

My brow puckered. “You mean
he?
I don’t know. We’re all kind of—”

“No,” Frank said, cutting me off. “Juli. Do you know where she is? Has she contacted you?”

Juli?
He’d come all the way over here to ask about Juli’s disappearance when our whole family was falling to shreds?

I worked to keep my voice level. “She’s with her boyfriend. I don’t know where they went.”

Frank shook his head, his face falling. “Your family must be going crazy. You must be sick with worry about her.”

Um, no. Actually, we’re sick with worry about the fact my grandfather nearly killed himself last night rolling around in broken glass
.

I pressed my lips together and stepped onto the porch, closing the door behind me. “Is that the only reason you came over here? To ask about Juli?”

Frank blinked, looking confused. “Yeah.”

I nodded. “Right. Okay, then.” I turned away from him and put one hand on the knob.

“Wait.”

My body tensed. I turned slowly. Frank was still standing on the top step, frowning at me.

“Are you okay, Scarlett? What has you so upset? Is it Juli?’

Plunge. Go ahead and plunge
. I took a step forward. “Do you love Juli? Is that why you’re always talking about her and staring at her with moony eyes? Because you’re in love with her?”

“Um.” Frank shifted, looking confused. “Well, I like Juli. I always have. You know that.”

A cold wave swept over me, despite the ninety-degree weather. I wrapped my arms around my chest to keep from shivering. “Why?”

I knew it was rude to pester him. It was none of my business. And yet I had to know what it was that made Juli something to Frank that I could never be.

“Well …” He cleared his throat. “She’s wild and beautiful and …” He gulped, refusing to meet my eyes. His voice faltered. “Well, she’s …”

“She’s what?” I whispered.

“She’s perfect.”

Perfect
. The word bit into my skin, gnawing through my chest. And then, suddenly, all of the emotions that had been building in me for the past two days seemed too heavy to hold back anymore. I shook my head, aware of the cynicism growing in my heart.

“Perfect? You wouldn’t know perfect if it bit you on the nose.”

Frank reached out a hand toward me. “Scarlett, what’s gotten into you? I don’t understand.”

I jerked back to avoid his touch. “Of course you don’t understand!” I squeezed my arms tighter around my chest. “Juli isn’t perfect, Frank.
We
are perfect. Perfect together.” I shook my head, my voice dropping to a whisper. “You know, for such a smart kid, you are the stupidest boy I have ever met.”

Then I turned one last time and slammed the door, leaving him alone on the porch. I couldn’t bear that look on his face. The expression of confusion and embarrassment and …

And what?
I sighed and trudged back up to my room.
And why should I even care anymore?

“Can I go with you?”

“I already told you no.”

Cliff frowned and crossed his arms. He was standing in front of the door, blocking my exit from the house. “You never take me anywhere anymore.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. I took you on a walk the other day with Grandpop Barley. Remember?”

“Wasn’t much of a walk,” he muttered. But he moved aside and let me pass.

“Thanks.” I glanced up at the sky. Dark gray clouds covered the sun, and the tops of the trees were swaying in the breeze that was picking up. Looked like a typical late-summer thunderstorm was sweeping through the state.

I’ll be back before it starts raining anyway
.

I hopped off the front porch and grabbed my bike. “I’m just going to visit with Mrs. Greene for a few minutes, okay, Cliff? If Mama asks where I am, tell her I’ll be home soon.”

He kicked at the doorframe, avoiding my eyes. “Scarlett never talks to Cliff anymore,” he said, his voice soft. “She doesn’t care about family.”

Referring to himself in third person. He hasn’t done that in forever
. My leg hovered in the air, suspended halfway between climbing onto my bike and running over to shake some sense into Cliff. His words jabbed at my chest.

Oh, he’s just doing it to get under my skin
. I climbed all the way onto my bike and pushed up against the handlebars. “I can’t handle this right now, Cliff. Just tell Mama, okay?”

Then I pushed off on the edge of my toes. Loose gravel slid under my sneakers. I pedaled hard and fast, away from the house and away from all the problems there.

The air had that weird dank smell that enveloped everything before it rained. It smelled like peaches rolled around in upturned soil.

I didn’t even know why I had to talk to Mrs. Greene so badly. I had no idea why I thought that she would say something to make things better, or at least all right.

No cars were in her driveway when I pulled up. My bike skid to a stop at the edge of the front yard.
Is no one home? Should I even bother ringing the doorbell?

Something fluttered at the curtain by the kitchen. I breathed a sigh of relief.
She’s home
.

Ding-dong
.

For someone with a relatively modest-sized home, the Greenes had quite a resounding doorbell. I could hear it echoing deep within the house. It practically made the door shake.

Mrs. Greene was smiling when she greeted me. Today, she was wearing a long floral dress with big red flowers, and had an apron tied around her waist. “Why, hello there, Scarlett! I thought I saw you from the window! How are you? Won’t you come in?”

She led me inside and sat me down in the kitchen right up at the
bar. It looked like she’d been baking recently. There was flour all over the counters, and the sink was piled up with dishes. One of her old cookbooks was lying open by the stove, but I was too far away to see what recipe she’d been trying out.

“Oh, here. You have got to try one of these.” She leaned over and snatched a cookie off a china plate on the kitchen table. “I made them for the deacons’ wives meeting this evening. They’re lemon meringue
cookies
! Taste it, and tell me what you think.”

I took a bite and wiped the crumbs off my face. “Delicious. I think you got the perfect combination of sweet and tart.”

“I know!” She laughed and pulled off her apron. Grabbing a glass of iced tea, she settled onto the bar stool next to me and patted my arm. “So what brings you here today? Everything okay?”

Hardly
. I racked my brain trying to think how to answer the question. “Um, yes and no.”

“Sounds complicated.”

“It is.”

I explained to her everything that had happened in the last few days, from Juli leaving to Grandpop Barley falling to the embarrassing episode with Frank. Every horrible, awkward, painful detail was included.

“My parents have decided to send Grandpop Barley to a home in Savannah for mentally disabled people,” I explained, rubbing at a spot on the counter. “It’s about an hour away, which isn’t far, but Cliff is just devastated.”

“Why? Why Cliff and no one else?”

I blinked. “Well, I mean, we’re all sad, of course, but it’s for the best. You should have seen Grandpop the other night.” Shivers ran up my back. “His face and hands were bleeding, and it was just … awful.”

Mrs. Greene stood up and motioned toward the pitcher of iced tea on the kitchen table. “Would you like some?”

“Sure.”

She walked over to her cabinet and pulled out a glass. Then she leaned against the counter. Her green eyes studied me carefully. “Let me ask you a question, Scarlett. If Grandpop Barley goes to this mental home, do you think that life will get better for you? For all of you?”

What kind of a question is that?
I blew into my cheeks and puffed them out. “I don’t know. I guess so. We won’t have to worry about him getting hurt, at least.”

Mrs. Greene filled the glass and handed it to me before sitting down again. “How does Cliff feel about it? You said he was devastated?”

“Yeah.” I took a sip of the tea, and sucked on an ice cube that had slid with it. “Everything’s just been so crazy lately. I guess I haven’t had much attention to give him. It’s just …” I sat up in my seat and leaned my elbows on the counter. “He doesn’t seem to understand how life works. He has it in his head that we should all just work together and figure out a plan and it’ll get better, but life just doesn’t happen like that. Know what I mean?”

Mrs. Greene was quiet for a long time, sipping on her tea and staring at me in silence. I squirmed. Did I say something wrong? Mrs. Greene sighed and set down her glass. “I wish I could figure out something to tell you, Scarlett, but I don’t think you’ll like anything I have to say. It’s like I told you, sometimes it takes more than just your own strength to find true peace and contentment. I’ll certainly pray that by sending Grandpop Barley away, your family will be able to heal completely. But I just don’t know if that will make things any better.”

I stiffened. “Well, I should probably go.”

Immediately, her face crumpled. “Oh, Scarlett! I’ve made you upset.”

“No, no. You haven’t.” I wiped off my mouth and handed her my
glass. “But it looks like it’s about to storm, and I don’t want to get caught in the middle of it on my bike.”

Mrs. Greene’s eyes looked doubtful, but she placed my cup in the sink and let me leave. “Be safe! And I’ll be praying for you,” she called as I ran down the front steps.

It was already starting to drizzle when I left her house. By the time I reached my driveway, I was stuck in a full-on rainstorm, with wind and stinging raindrops whipping at my face. My legs were aching from pedaling so hard, but I finally reached the end of the driveway. I dropped my bike and ran up the front steps. Cliff was still sitting by the door waiting for me.

My mind was whirling from my conversation with Mrs. Greene.
Was she right? Should I be fighting to keep Grandpop Barley here too?
I clenched my fists into little balls and then released them. Tight and loose. My heartbeat pounded through my wrists.

No, I just need to let it go. Anything for the sake of making things simpler around here. Cliff would be so much easier to handle without Grandpop Barley around, and I don’t want to make things any more stressful for Mama and Dad
. I couldn’t bear to see that incident after Juli left played out all over again.

“Cliff’s been waiting for Scarlett,” Cliff said. He glared up at me with his brown eyes. His hair was sticking up off his forehead like he’d been running his hand through it all afternoon. “Scarlett needs to talk to Cliff.”

I sighed. He was blocking the doorway again. “Cliff, just let me get through, okay? I have to fix something for supper.”

“No. Scarlett needs to talk to Cliff
right now
!”

Okay, now this was starting to get on my nerves. The wind was howling all around us, and I could hardly hear myself think. Now was not the time for Cliff to be getting weird again.

“Cliff, please. Just move, okay?” The words were spoken through gritted teeth. My shirt was sticking to my skin; my hair was matted to the back of my neck.

He stood up and gave me a big shove. “No!” His chin was shaking. “Scarlett must listen to Cliff!”

His push sent me off balance, and I stumbled backward. I nearly fell down the front steps, but my hand caught hold of a porch pillar and I managed to regain my balance. Clinging to the wooden beam, I rubbed the hair out of my eyes and screamed, “Cliff! Just stop it! Stop talking like that! Can’t you see I don’t want to talk right now?”

We both fell silent. My words hung in the air between us. My chest was heaving up and down, and so was Cliff’s.

Thunder boomed, and a few seconds later lightning lit up the sky.