What Lies Beyond the Veil(Of Flesh & Bone #1)(25)

But I am interrupted by her playful yell: “This is war!”

To my surprise, Nia grabs two snowballs, one in each hand, and throws them in my direction. I screech and run for cover. We pitch snowballs at each other til our hands are icicles and our mouths are stretched into frozen smiles. We run in the house and collapse on the couch in a fit of giggles.

“That was fun!” I laugh.

“I know!” she replies. “We haven’t done that in forever!”

“I know! And I beat you last time, too!” I squeal with delight.

“Uh-uh, no you didn’t! I won! Say it!” She tosses me back farther into the couch cushions, pinning my arms beneath my head. I struggle against her weight, but I ain’t ever been strong enough to beat Nia.

“Say it!” Nia yells. “Say I won!”

I can barely breathe from laughing so hard. Nia tickles me and won’t stop. “No, I won!” I manage to stammer.

“No,” she starts, just as the phone rings. She pauses her thought, then crosses to the kitchen to answer the call. Soon I hear her speaking quietly, probably to one of her friends. I sneak a little closer, hoping she ain’t gon’ be on the phone long, so we can play some more. I ain’t ever gon’ forget this day. I know it.

“I wish,” I hear Nia whisper into the phone. “I’m stuck here with the brat.”

I feel the sting of tears before I make it back to my room. As soon as my door is closed, they fall from my eyes like traitors.



* * *





But our day with Fuzz ain’t like that day, cause Nia ain’t being mean this time. I peek over at her, see a smile still shining from her face. I bet now’s a good time to try to get her talking. Nia always knows more bout what’s going on than me. Maybe I can get her to tell me what she knows, starting with the truth bout where Momma is at.

“You miss Detroit?” I ask. Nia lets Fuzz crawl cross her palm before answering.

“A little.” She pauses, then: “I miss Momma.” Nia turns away so that I can only see the side of her face. I wonder if she misses Daddy, too, but I’m not sure it’s a good idea to ask yet.

“Yeah, me, too,” I say, but Nia stays quiet. “Here”—I offer the jar as Fuzz crawls to the edge of her hand—“put him in here.” Nia uses her thumb to slide Fuzz into the jar, where he scoots to the grass-filled bottom.

“You know what I miss most?” I ask, determined to try again. Nia looks up at me without speaking. “I miss our old house. With Daddy. You think we gon’ get a new house when Momma comes back?” Something flickers cross Nia’s face—hope?—but then she smooths her shirt and shrugs before focusing again on the jar.

“We should find more caterpillars,” Nia says. “I bet Fuzz needs some friends.”

“Yeah,” I whisper. I hope Nia ain’t mad at me for bringing up Daddy. And I hope Fuzz’s new friends ain’t gon’ get in the way, like Nia’s.

When Granddaddy calls to us from the house we run inside for dinner, fast and in crooked lines with bugs buzzing in our ears. I ain’t figure out Nia’s secrets tonight, but I did get closer to her than we’ve been in a long time. I look up and spot my favorite star in the sky, the sparkly one right in the middle. I bet it’s the same one that used to be Momma’s favorite, too, when she was my age. I wink at our star and make a wish that things will be the same tomorrow. Maybe even the start of everything going back to normal.



* * *





I wake up early the next morning. The sun is barely peeking through the heavy curtains, but Nia is already dressed. She takes a last look in the mirror and starts to head out the door.

“Where you going?” I ask quietly.

“My friend Brittany is in Lansing for the rest of the summer now!” Nia exclaims. “When I told her we had to stay, she remembered she got an auntie that lives here.” Nia straightens her poufy ponytail with both hands. “Granddaddy already left for church, but he said I can go hang out with her and maybe spend the night.”

“But what bout Fuzz?”

“Fuzz? Oh, right. Umm, maybe tomorrow.” Nia walks away without even looking back. I know she won’t think bout Fuzz again.

I lay in the bed awhile, staring at the crack in the ceiling before I finally get up. I ain’t excited like before. But I get dressed, and I head outside. I look for caterpillars in the field and by the big tree. I find four caterpillars, then I’m bored. It just don’t feel the same without Nia.

I hide the jar under the porch and climb up to my spot in the tree. From here I can see the road, so I watch for Nia to come back. Maybe she gon’ come back soon so we can still have time to play. I stay there, watching, til the sun hides behind the hills. Til the field is covered in shadows and it’s too late for caterpillars, or sisters.





4





Lansing is like staying up late on a school night, them times when Momma and Daddy would get in a fight. We’d feel happy to stay up late but couldn’t really enjoy it cause of all the yelling. Nights that are happy and sad all at once, just like being here.

It’s been thirteen days in Lansing, and since I still ain’t collected a single bottle or learned the truth bout what’s going on, I’m no closer to gettin’ back home to Momma. I wish time would slow down, give me enough time to get the money before summer ends and I’m stuck here forever, but it don’t. Now it’s the end of June and scorching hot. With the sun comes patches of sidewalk that burn my bare feet. But the air is still light in some places, gently blowing the flowers that were already colorful but now look covered by exploded paint cans. And with a smell so rich it soaks my nostrils. Lansing is summer like I never knew summer before. I wanna know it always, but I always wanna leave. This is how I spend each moment: busy loving and hating, having and letting go.