Ivy in the Shadows by Chris Woodworth Page A

her bleach-stripped, blinding white teeth at me. “But I thought, here I am, sitting at home—again—waiting on Sonny to come home. And what happens when he gets there? He sleeps most of the weekend until he hits the road come Monday. That’s no life, sweet pea.”
    â€œFor him or for you?” I asked.
    She let out her bark of laughter that I loved. “Good question.” She pulled a peppermint stick out of her purse and put it in her mouth, talking around it. “Not for me, that’s for dang sure.”
    She pulled the stick out of her mouth and held it between her pointer and middle fingers, just like the cigarette she’d told me it was supposed to replace. “That’s not the marriage I signed up for, let me tell you. Not one bit.”
    I thought about Uncle Sonny. I hadn’t seen him in a long time but he always made me feel special. When he talked to me, you’d have thought I was the smartest and prettiest girl on the planet. And it wasn’t just me. That’s how he treated everyone. I wondered what kind of marriage Aunt Maureen wanted that would be better than being made to feel like that.
    â€œBut … Uncle Sonny is, well, so lovable !”
    She got very busy in the cabinets. When she looked at me again, she said, “Yes, he is,” and her voice quivered a little bit. “When he’s there.”
    Then her voice got stronger. “Which is my point exactly. He’s never there. Or almost never, anyway.
    â€œSo I’m sitting there thinking.” She took a puff off her peppermint stick, made a face, and set it down. “I’m thinking that I have no one to cook for or look after and here your mama is with even more kids than she had once this divorce started and I’m all alone.”
    I’d heard Aunt Maureen cry to Mama about how she wasn’t having any luck in getting pregnant.
    â€œSo I packed up my bags, called Sonny, and told him that the next time his big rig found its way home not to expect dinner, and here I am. Now hand me the sugar, sweet pea.”
    I took longer than I needed with my head in the sack but I was trying to figure out how I was going to get to Alexa’s party now that Aunt Maureen was here.
    In came JJ, riding on his sneakers with wheels. He circled the kitchen table once and then flew straight into Aunt Maureen, wrapping his arms around her tight.
    â€œYou’d better come see me, you little stinker. What do you think of those Heelys I bought you?”
    â€œI love them! I’m giving you a hug every hour, Aunt Maureen, so you won’t leave!”
    She winked at me. “Gifts work every time.”
    â€œYou didn’t need to buy us anything,” I said, but the truth was, I really did like the iPod Shuffle she brought me. She even gave Caleb a gift card to a bookstore since she didn’t know what kind of stuff he liked.
    â€œWell, of course I did!” she said. “I plan to spoil you guys rotten. And don’t you worry about me leaving, JJ. I’m not going anywhere. Now go get Caleb. It’s time I got to know that boy.”
    I handed her the sugar but she set it down. “Oh, this can wait. Let me just soak you all up before your mama gets home and steals your attention.”
    I thought of how happy Mama had been this week, coming in with her face glowing, like getting away from us was the best thing that had ever happened to her. She might be tired, and she complained some about her feet hurting, but I knew Mama. I could tell she loved working. She didn’t even seem to mind that she wasn’t seeing JJ off to bed, and you know what? That hurt me almost as much as her not asking one single thing about me. I could have been expelled from school and she’d never have known.
    We went into the living room and JJ came soaring in after us on his new shoes, with Caleb following. Aunt Maureen glided down onto the couch, reaching one long arm across