What Lies Beyond the Veil(Of Flesh & Bone #1)(21)

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I make it back to my spot in my tree without Granddaddy or Nia even noticing I was gone. At least, don’t seem like nobody noticed. Everything is quiet and boring as usual. The empty bag I was using to find bottles has started to blow away and is stuck in the branches of the bush by Granddaddy’s front porch. I run to grab it, then pull the list back out my pocket. Looking for bottles ain’t quite work out, but there’s gotta be another way I can find money and get back to Momma. As soon as I think the word Momma, I see her face in my mind. She bout the only person that might actually be happy bout me making friends with Bobby and Charlotte.

When I started fifth grade, I had a hard time making friends. Seemed like all the other kids were doin’ stuff together after school and on the weekends, so they were all really good friends with inside jokes and funny stories they only told to each other. But not me. Momma and Daddy never let us do none of that extra stuff, so on the first day of school when everyone was hugging and laughing, I was eating lunch alone in the cafeteria. I came home from school that day tryna hide my sadness, but Momma noticed anyway. She told me a story bout when she was a little girl, growing up with all brothers, and how she ain’t ever feel like she had a real friend. “Til I found you and your sister,” she had said, pinching my nose and smiling. I refold the list and put it back in my pocket, then grab my book and the empty bag and head inside Granddaddy’s house. This time, I’m gon’ get him to let me call Momma.

Just like I figured, Granddaddy is on the couch, pretending to watch the TV. I come in just as the music sounds and the host yells, “Come on down! You are the next contestant on The Price Is Right!” I always love this part, but I ain’t got time to stop and watch. I nudge Granddaddy softly on the shoulder as I sit down next to him. He blinks awake and looks my way, but I pretend the contact was accidental, tuning in to the screen.

“Bid one dollar,” I yell, cause that’s what I hear Granddaddy say a lot.

“One dollar!” Granddaddy yells in agreement, sittin’ up now. We both watch as the actual retail price is announced, and the guy who bid the lowest amount wins. “Hmph,” Granddaddy mumbles in satisfaction.

“Hmph,” I mumble back, folding my arms cross my chest and sittin’ back, just like Granddaddy. We watch for another few minutes before I finally get the nerve to ask. “Granddaddy,” I begin, “would it be okay if I call Momma?” I ain’t sure why it feels so scary to ask, cept that Momma left us here unexpectedly, and the whole thing feels like a big secret.

Granddaddy sighs. “Well, I don’t know—”

“Please, Granddaddy,” I interrupt. “I got something really important to talk to her bout and it will be really, really fast, I promise!”

“It’s just that—” Granddaddy pauses like he’s thinking real hard. “Kenyatta, your momma is getting some rest. I don’t know if we should interrupt her.”

Rest? I thought Momma left so she could make money, not rest. And why she need rest anyway? She ain’t sick or nothin’, far as I know . . .

“Just for a minute, okay?” Granddaddy looks at me with the same kind of sad eyes people looked at me with after Daddy died. I nod, not sure why he’s being so dramatic, but happy he’s gon’ let me call Momma.

“Don’t worry, I already know the number,” I announce triumphantly. Momma made us memorize the number to the motel as soon as we got there. I thought we were only gon’ be there a little while, but she made us learn the number anyway. Five-five-five-seven-three-five-five. The digits make a song like a nursery rhyme that made it easy to memorize.

“Nah, she ain’t . . . she ain’t there.” Granddaddy shifts in his seat and rubs his hands together. He waits a few seconds before speaking again. “I’ll dial the number, then you talk. Just for a minute.”

I nod, even though Granddaddy is already on his way to the kitchen, where the phone hangs on the wall beside the fridge. I wonder why Momma ain’t at the motel. Where else would she be? I wanna ask Granddaddy, but before I can, he hands me the phone.

Three rings, then Momma picks up.

“Hello?” She sounds out of breath. For the first time, I wonder bout what Momma’s been doin’ this whole time, without us. She probably still gotta go to work at Chrysler, and maybe she’s even working extra since we need money for our new house. I don’t know exactly what Momma does at work all day, but I know she has a lot of important meetings and stuff. Once, I asked her if she was the boss at work, cause it seemed like she was always in charge. She answered, I’m a boss, but not the boss. I still don’t know what she meant. But one thing I do know: Momma don’t love her job at Chrysler like she loves writing.

A few years back, before Daddy spent so much time on them stairs, Momma got it in her head that she was gon’ go back to school.

“What for?” Daddy asked, when she told him bout her plan to apply to the local college down the road, where she could take journalism classes at night.

“So that I can get a job.” Momma didn’t look up from the dishes she was washing.

“You already got a job.” Daddy laughed, coming up behind Momma for a hug she ain’t return.

“So that I can get a job doing what I love.”