Don’t Let Me Go(21)

“You might want to look where you’re going.”

“But they’re so beautiful!”

After the haircut (which looked funny, in a way, probably just because it was something Grace wasn’t used to, but also kind of stylish and nice at the same time), Rayleen had given Grace nails. They were the kind you paste on, and they were a really pretty shade of pink, and they had sparkles and other little charm things pasted on. Like, one little paste-on charm was on her middle finger, and it was silver, and shaped like a tiny flying horse. She couldn’t stop looking at the flying horse.

“I’m glad you like them,” Rayleen said.

“I know how to speak Spanish,” Grace said, still looking at the nails.

“Since when?”

“Just since today.”

“You learned Spanish just today?”

“Some. I know como you dice en Espa?ol…dog. It’s perro. You dice ‘dog’ in Espa?ol by saying ‘perro.’”

“OK, I stand corrected. That’s a lot of Spanish to learn in one day. I’m impressed. Oops. Look out, Grace. Look where you’re going.”

Grace looked up just in time to zig-zag around two young women walking toward them on the sidewalk.

“Sorry,” she said to them. Then, to Rayleen, “Maybe when we get home we can order a pizza.”

“Maybe,” Rayleen said. “But it’s not going to be like the last pizza. I could barely carry that thing into the house. I didn’t know a pizza could even cost that much. When the guy told me the bill, I thought he was kidding. Who orders pepperoni and sausage and Canadian bacon and meatballs all on one pizza?”

“Me.”

“And triple cheese? I mean, I’ve heard of double cheese, but…”

“I’m sorry if it was too much money. But you said to order what I wanted.”

“Right,” Rayleen said. “I did. So, live and learn. But this time I’m making the call. And this time I’m telling you in advance that you want cheese and pepperoni. Period.”

Grace smiled to herself. Because it was still pizza. And it was still a million times more pizza than she was about to get from anybody else besides Rayleen.

“Have you thought of what you like about me yet?”

“Yes,” Rayleen said. “As a matter of fact, I have. You’re a survivor. And you don’t complain. Now, that’s just off the top of my head, and it’s just so far. Like I said before, I’m sure when I get to know you better, there’ll be tons more.”

“It’s good for now,” Grace said, sneaking a quick look at her nails again. One had a little crescent moon charm stuck on — her right pinky one. “That and a pizza’s plenty good enough for today.”





Billy



Billy swung his apartment door wide and leaped out into the hallway, landing right in front of Rayleen and Grace.

“Why did you not tell me Grace wasn’t coming today?” he bellowed, alarmed by the sound of his own anger. “I was beside myself with worry. I mean it. I had a miserable afternoon. Absolutely abysmal. I thought something had happened to her. I was a mess. My fingernails are bitten right down to the quick. And beyond. Every single one of them. Look at this.”

But he didn’t literally offer them for inspection.

Rayleen stood a moment — her mouth open wide — while he spoke. Then she looked down at Grace.

“Grace,” she said. “You didn’t tell him. You promised you’d tell him.”

Grace looked up into Rayleen’s face. “Oooooops,” she said.

Then all Billy could do was stand there like a fool, all the passion and fire drained out of him, because you can’t very well stay mad at a kid Grace’s age for forgetting something.

“I’m sorry,” Rayleen said. “It’s all my fault. I take total responsibility. I shouldn’t have put it all on Grace. Next time I’ll tell you myself if we change the plan.”

“I’m sorry, too, Billy,” Grace said. “I didn’t mean to make you bite your quicks.”

Billy sighed deeply, pushing out a whole afternoon of abject panic.

“Can I still get a dancing lesson?” Grace asked.

“Oh, no. No, not today. I’m afraid not. That was just too exhausting an afternoon. I couldn’t—Oh, my God! Would you look at you! Look at your hair!”

“Do you like it?”

“Like it? Girlfriend, you are a changed woman! I mean, girl. You are a new girl. You are styling! I am very impressed!”

“And look at the nails.”

She held her fingers out, proudly, for Billy to see.

“Amazing,” he said. “Absolutely amazing. You have been reborn.”

She smiled up at him for a moment.

Then Billy’s spell broke, unexpectedly, like a bubble popping.

“Oh, my God, I’m out in the hall,” he said, and scrambled back inside.

“Yeah, and in your pajamas,” Grace said.

He closed the door most of the way, peering out through an inch of crack.

“We sort of figured you knew,” Grace said.

? ? ?

Grace said to Billy, “I’m still really sorry about yesterday.”