What Lies Beyond the Veil(Of Flesh & Bone #1)(61)

“Gotta come see,” I say with a smile, pointing again at Granddaddy’s house. From over here, it looks small and kinda old, especially when I look back at Bobby and Charlotte’s big ol’ tall house with new paint and the bright red door.

Bobby looks back at that door now and crosses his arms. I bet he’s looking for they momma. “We can’t leave our sidewalk.”

“Just for a minute?” I ask, then look at Charlotte with begging eyes, cause she’s gon’ be easier to convince than Bobby. “We can go inside real quick. I have a new book for you.” I ain’t sure which book I mean, cause I ain’t ready to share my new Anne books that I ain’t even finished yet. But at least I got Charlotte smiling and thinking.

“Come on, Bobby. Just for a minute?” Charlotte pleads, but Bobby don’t budge. “Please? We have time; she’s in the shower.” She whispers that last part, like I won’t hear her or know exactly who she’s talking bout. Bobby thinks long and hard, looking back and forth between both our houses. Then, finally, he unfolds his arms.

“Just for a minute,” he says. Me and Charlotte are already halfway cross the street before he can even finish the sentence. He runs behind us and yells, “Wait up!”

Once we get cross the street, I ain’t sure what to do. I promised Charlotte a book, but now I’m feeling shy bout them seeing inside Granddaddy’s house. I think bout the singing tar-baby statues and the portrait of Black Jesus hanging by the door. “Let’s go to the field,” I say quickly, hoping they don’t ask bout going inside. I wipe sweat from my forehead while I wait for them to agree. In my mind, I think of what I’m gon’ say if they do ask to go inside. But, luckily, they follow me without questions. We trudge back to the field—me in front walking slow, Bobby beside me, and Charlotte skipping behind—with the songs of birds ringing in our ears.

“Look at all the flowers!” Charlotte squeals as they pop into view. The wind blows just a little, just enough to make the colors dance. The air is thick with a sweet perfume. Bobby and Charlotte run screeching into the field like they invading a fortress, so I do, too. I press my fingertips against the same flowers I been touching all summer, but they feel different now. Like they just now came alive.

“Wanna play?” Charlotte asks, and I bob my head up and down, quick. I’ve only been alone back here, chasing butterflies and making up games to play by myself. Now me and Charlotte chase butterflies together, running in circles til we’re both dizzy and laughing. Then we play a game with Bobby that we all make up. The sky’s bursting with shining light and fat clouds. I been happy before, but this is my new best day in Lansing.

“I’m going to the pond!” Bobby yells, and I’m bout to follow, but Charlotte tugs my hand.

“Wanna look for caterpillars?”

A giant smile stretches cross my face as I nod. Charlotte keeps holding my hand for a few more seconds, and I imagine me and her as Anne and Diana in Green Gables. Real-life bosom buddies.

“Over here,” Charlotte yelps. While I was lost in my thoughts, Charlotte was already finding caterpillars.

“Where?” I ask, joining her near a giant rock.

“Here,” she says, pointing to the base of the rock, where a whole handful of caterpillars crawl and squirm. We take turns picking them up and passing them to each other. I think bout goin’ to get my mayonnaise jar, but seeing how much fun we having, I think it’s better to let these caterpillars keep living right where they at.

“Me and my sister found some caterpillars when we first moved here,” I say to Charlotte, remembering that day with Nia that feels so far away now.

“Moved here?” Charlotte tilts her head. “I thought you said you were just visiting.”

I try to hide my face before Charlotte can tell I’m embarrassed. “Oh,” I answer, “well, yeah, we just visiting. Our momma still gon’ come back for us. I just don’t know when yet.”

“Oh,” Charlotte replies, and that’s all she says. We both go back to looking for caterpillars, but the space between us feels smaller now, like it’s packed tight and cramped with all the stuff we ain’t gon’ say.

“My daddy died, from doin’ drugs,” I whisper. Just a little bit of the space opens up. “And we came here after, cause we lost our house.” I take a deep breath, then let it out. The space stretches with my breath. “I don’t know when my momma gon’ come back, or even if she’s gon’ come back at all.” The space is as wide open as the field now.

“Oh,” Charlotte says again. She chews her hair and looks over at Bobby, looks up at the tree, looks down at the grass. Looks everywhere but at me. I think maybe she don’t wanna be my friend anymore, but then she reaches out her hand. I take it and feel a little squeeze.

“Our dad is gone, too,” Charlotte says, still looking at the ground.

I wait before I speak. “Did he die?”

Charlotte shakes her head no. “They got a divorce.”

I don’t know much bout divorce, cept what I hear at church. And lots of my classmates at school had parents who were divorced, and they would talk bout how their parents would fight. Once, after Momma and Daddy had a fight, I asked Daddy if him and Momma would get a divorce. He laughed, then looked me straight in the eye and said, “Do I look like a fool to you?”