Frannie and Tru (2 page)

An hour later, Mom and Dad had disappeared on errands unknown, while the twins were busy moving Jimmy's stuff back upstairs and squeezing it into the too-small room. I was cleaning the kitchen, but as soon as I was alone, I started sifting through the junk drawer, pushing aside old rubber bands and stray birthday candles until I found what I was looking for: an old school portrait of Tru.

He was just twelve or thirteen in it, still a little baby-faced, not smiling exactly, but cocking an eyebrow. This was the same Truman I remembered from the spelling bee, except here he was wearing his school uniform: navy blazer with an embroidered crest; crisp, white shirt; red tie. He was dark-haired and dark-eyed, nothing like my brothers and me. Like my dad, we were red-haired, fair, freckled, and tall. Impossibly tall. They were both six three. I was five ten and still going.

I searched the photo like it could tell me why he was coming. Kieran had eventually asked Mom, once things had calmed down a little, but all she would say was that we hadn't see him in forever and were overdue to spend some time together. There was no way that was all there was to it, but the picture, of course, told me nothing. All it did was remind me that I had no idea what he looked like now. The more I stared at his face, the more he seemed like some kind of ghost boy, frozen in time and full of secrets.

Before I knew what was happening, Jimmy snatched the picture from my hand.

“Oh god—he's worse than I remember.”

Kieran came loping up the stairs and into the kitchen as Jimmy held up the little wallet print. I glared at both of them, but they didn't seem to notice.

“Can you believe we have to put up with The Blazer here all summer?” Jimmy asked.

Kieran grinned. “But don't forget he has to put up with us.”

“Good point,” Jimmy said as the two of them headed back down the stairs. “I mean, look around. Does he know we're living in the dark ages here?”

This summer was the Dark Ages because we had just given up our internet and cable and would only be running the air conditioners when we were absolutely dying. These were just the latest blows in a series, all of which had begun in the fall when Dad started running low on work. He was a marine welder, which meant he went underwater and worked on things like submarines
and bridges. Sometimes he had to travel, leaving for weeks at a time, and while it could be dangerous, it paid pretty well. But then his long-steady contracts had started to slow, and since December, they'd gone dry almost completely. Now he made almost nothing but spare cash through random jobs he picked up here and there—light plumbing and handyman chores, fixing the cars of friends and neighbors. When things first got bad, we'd pretended everything could stay the same, but as winter wound down, we kept cutting back, spending less and less. Finally, Mom had decided to double her shifts at the hospital. She worked there as a medical transcriptionist, listening to recordings that doctors made and typing out what they said. Whenever she talked about work over dinner, Jimmy would pretend to fall asleep.

And now we had a hot, cramped house with no internet, no cable. I was sweating as I scrubbed a cluster of old, angry coffee cup rings that had set near the sink. For the first time I wondered what Tru would think of where we lived, our situation. I leaned into the sponge and scrubbed harder. The twins had left the photo of him on the counter, slightly crumpled now, and my eyes kept flitting toward it.

Jimmy reemerged from the basement into the kitchen carrying an armload of T-shirts.

“Frannie,” he asked, “do you think The Blazer knows that Baltimore is a cesspool of drugs and STDs? I don't think the kids around here are going to be
his type
.”

Kieran shuffled in behind him lugging two big dumbbells in
his hands, two smaller ones tucked under his armpits. “Dude,” he said, “chill with the Blazer talk.” He tried to sound serious but was grinning. Jimmy acted like he hadn't heard.

“Do you think The Blazer really understands the concept of a row house?” Jimmy asked, looking pointedly at me. “I mean, does he even remember that all we have is a skinny little house that is
connected to other houses
? I don't think he's going to like the accommodations here at all.”

“Well, shit,” Kieran said, now giving up and laughing, “you might be right about that.”

“I mean, think about it,” said Jimmy, plucking the photo from the counter and waving it around. “This kid wants
us
to feed
him
?”

Kieran rolled his eyes. “Uncle Richard must be giving them some cash. You know he must be.”

“Shit,” Jimmy said. “Sometimes you're not an idiot. I hadn't thought of that.”

I hadn't thought of it either, but now the idea made me blush, embarrassed for Dad. Embarrassed for all of us.

The twins turned in unison to look at me. Jimmy had shaved his head down to the faintest fuzz on the last day of school, and Kieran had been letting his grow for months into a great mass of clown curls. They were actually fraternal, though everyone found that hard to believe—they were practically mirror images. And right now I was sick and tired of both of them. I didn't want to hear their jokes about Tru, because all the reasons that they couldn't stand our cousin were the same reasons that I thought he was interesting. I kind of liked his school uniform, which was
better than the stupid, shapeless sweaters we had to wear. I liked that he seemed too smart for his own good.

And to be honest, what I really liked was that he was so different from my family.

Jimmy sighed. “Frannie doesn't seem concerned about how we're going to make The Blazer comfortable. She doesn't seem concerned at all.”

Kieran shook his head at me,
tsk-tsk
ing, and then the two of them headed back downstairs to carry up another load, voices trailing behind.

“Do you think he prefers squash or tennis?”

“I'm guessing polo. Or fox hunting. You know—anything with a horse.”

I looked up at the ceiling and sighed. In that moment I was glad that I was the only one going to the train station with my dad. It might be my only chance to make some kind of impression on Tru before he met the twins and decided we were all a bunch of loudmouthed idiots. I needed that chance; I knew I did. Because while I couldn't say why exactly—maybe just because I had so little else to hope for—I thought that Tru might be able to lead me out of this sad and lonely summer.

He was different from my family, so he might notice that I was kind of different from them, too.

On the twins' next pass by the kitchen, I turned my back, ready to ignore them, but then Kieran came over and put a sweaty arm around me, wrestling my neck into a gentle sort of sleeper hold. Some of my anger dissolved. It had been ages since he'd done
something like that and, instead of yelping or fighting, I just went limp. I let myself be held. Kieran told me that my wrestling skills sucked as he gave me an extra squeeze that was almost a hug. He let me go with a pat on the head and a final thought.

“I was going to suggest that the kid bring a sleeping bag and ride out the summer on the floor in your room, but I just couldn't do that to you, Frannie. 'Cause as far as I remember, Truman is kind of a dick.”

As I put the cleaning supplies back under the sink, I got a little rush of nerves. There was something hiding here—a secret treasure, tipped on its side, wedged far back in the dark and dirty cabinet. I pushed past the trash bags and mousetraps and some old jars of oil. I moved aside the avalanche of cleaning supplies. And there it was.

A small but almost full bottle of vodka.

I'd been cleaning the kitchen for months now, ever since Mom had started working more, but still, I'd only noticed the bottle a few weeks ago. That's how far it was shoved into the sticky recesses. And whoever left it here, Mom or Dad, had clearly completely forgotten—I was sure about that, because its disappearance had been the source of a major blowup just last week.

Dad had been looking for it the other night, had ransacked the kitchen, in fact. When he couldn't find it, he totally freaked out on the twins. A truly epic screaming match, apparently. I missed the whole thing, and when I finally heard about it, I knew I should tell everyone, but . . . I didn't want to. If I told them where
it was, it would be like admitting that I'd never need it. That I really was that profoundly uncool.

Now, alone here in front of the cabinet, I liked the idea of having the bottle when Tru got here. I had no friends, no life, but I could offer this up, like it was no big deal. It wasn't much, but it was something.

I knew Dad might go looking for it again, might eventually find it—so if I really wanted it, I should hide it away. Hide it somewhere extra safe.

The boys were loud and busy upstairs. No one else was around, but that wouldn't last long. If I was going to move it, I had to move it now.

Grabbing the bottle, I leaped to my feet and ran through the vertical stretch of our house, the three rooms lined up in a neat column—kitchen, dining room, living room. I burst out of the front door with a squeak and a slam, flying across the street into the dog park. Rushing down the steep hill, I dodged rocks and trees until I reached the big, grassy basin at the bottom.

I was standing in a valley the size of a football field, and there was no one there but me. A sharp bark came from somewhere in the thick trees, far off ahead of me and to the right. Slower, more cautiously, I jogged across the expanse of the park until I reached the creek. I turned left, following its rocky edge, looking over my shoulder every few seconds. Still no one. This was the most exciting thing I'd done in weeks, which was ridiculous, but I was just happy to feel my heart pumping as I ran. I was glad for this bit of danger, small as it was.

The creek led into a huge cement cavern, cars roaring by on the bridge overhead. White walls arched over me, a story and a half high. Every footstep echoed. I made my legs pump faster, faster, faster, carrying me along the thin walkway, the creek trickling alongside. Grafitti screamed from the walls.
EVA IS A SLUT 4EVA. BOBBY SNORTS CRACK
. (
For reals?
someone asked just below.)

I burst out the other end, into the outer edge of the park. Turning toward the trees, I quickly found the one I was searching for, the old beech tree with a knot in the center. I stood at the proper place in front of it, took a right, and walked until I reached a thick covering of what looked like poison ivy but was just a harmless patch of sumac.

This was it, our perfect hiding spot. Years ago, Jimmy and Kieran had buried an old toolbox here in the dirt. I had stood lookout while they dug, working for what seemed like forever to hollow out a big enough hole. They called it the safe, and they used it to hide fireworks and cigarettes. Plus things I never even knew about, I'm sure. Now here I was, being the bad one. Or at least trying to be. I tilted the bottle back and forth, watching the liquid slide, feeling excited, hopeful. I might actually have a reason to drink this before the summer was out. It might end up being the key to some perfect summer night.

I tiptoed into the sumac, which I hadn't dug through in—what? Three years? More? It was insane to think the safe would be still be here, but I pushed aside the leaves and looked. The pyramid of rocks they used to pile up on top was gone, but
something was sticking up from the dirt. I kneeled down to look closer, poking it.

It was the red plastic handle of the toolbox.

My hands reached into the cracked, dry dirt, and I started to dig.

With the bottle hidden, I walked slowly back through the tunnel and cut across the length of the park, following a dirt path up and out, back onto the sidewalk.

I was a block and a half from home, but didn't want to be there, not yet, not with the twins stomping up and down the stairs, yelling stupid jokes about Tru. Instead, I walked down the sidewalk in the opposite direction. I listened to birds, watched squirrels, kicked an old can. Head down, I circled around and went back a different way than I'd come, taking the alley that ran behind our row of houses. There were backyards on either side, and I peeked over short fences or in between the planks of tall ones, spying on the barbecue grills, sandboxes, and tiny vegetable gardens of our neighbors.

I was almost home, and I was grimy. I tried to brush the dirt off my knees and hands. I was scraping it from underneath my fingernails when I heard Dad's voice. He was in the backyard with Mom.

“Christ, Barb. He's not my kid. What do I care what he's into? You think I need a lecture on being nice to my freaking nephew?”

Mom whispered angrily back at him, spitting each word too low for me to hear.

Silence. Dad sighed.

“Well, yeah. It's bad. It's a bad situation. It's a lot to deal with. Your sister needs time. They both need time.”

Her voice came back softer. Dad cut her off.

“Look, let's talk about this later. I don't want the kids to hear.”

Another mumble from Mom.

“No, no! I mean, god. I don't think we should tell them.”

The smallest hush, which must have been Mom again.

“No, don't tell them any of it. Right? How would we even begin? This is all so, so . . . personal. And what good would it do? The kid's here for the summer, not forever. You think he's going to prance home with some new boy toy every night?”

Boy toy?

At first I didn't understand. It was like listening to my Spanish teacher—the words had a hint of meaning, but I had to roll them around to make the connection. . . .

And then suddenly I did.

The sun glared down, and I waited to hear more, but they said nothing. Their footsteps moved across the little plot of grass that was our backyard, and the screen door slammed behind them. For several beats, I didn't move. I stood there in perfect stillness, thinking of the only Truman I could clearly picture—the ghost boy in the school photo.