got to let you know what happened on Lake Myth Again.”
“Roscoe, don’t you think you should just relax and have your—”
Father said, “All I know ith that I
have
to tell what happened out there.”
“Roscoe. Maybe you’re—”
“Peg, I really need to talk.”
Mother looked at him hard. “Children, go outside until your father and I are done talking.”
Father stood up. “No! I need to tell all of you.”
Mother stood up and put her hand on his arm. “Roscoe, you’re just going to—”
Father snatched his arm away. “Don’t worry, Peg, I’m going to tell the truth, I won’t lie.”
Mother’s 1-1-1 lines popped up and she sat very slowly back in her chair.
She picked up her fork and started pushing around the carrots Jimmie’d brought home.
Father said, “No one’th to blame, we had bad luck from the jump. It went wrong right away but we couldn’t do anything about it, how can you thay who did what wrong?”
He stared down at his plate.
I looked over at Jimmie. He was just as scared as me.
Mother pointed at us, then the door.
We were happy to leave. Seeing Father like this was worse than seeing him out cold in bed.
I got up, leaned down. “Kisses … kisses … kisses make you stronger.”
He wrapped his arms around me and Jimmie. “Thank you, Detha, Jimmie. Thank all of you for everything. I apologithe, Peg.”
We went into the living room and Mother helped Father up. As she passed us on the couch she told Father, “Back to bed for you, buthter. Kids, I’ll be right back.”
Jimmie reached over and held my hand. “Lockjaw. He’s got to fight off lockjaw.…”
“No, Jimmie, Father doesn’t have tetanus, it’s something else.”
“Naw, sis, I didn’t mean he has lockjaw for real. It’s like what Daddy told me. Remember? He said that some of the time you get through whatever hurt you and you think you’re all healed up, but there’s still something inside that can come back and kill you. Daddy beat Lake Michigan but now there’s something inside he’s still got to beat. He’s not done fighting yet. Almost like he’s got lockjaw.”
I didn’t know whether to be scared about what Jimmie said, or amazed that he was making so much sense.
Chapter Fourteen
The Sad Truth About Jokes
Clarice was early. I was sitting on the couch reading when she tapped on the door.
“You ready?” She had her books in her arms.
We hugged and I said, “Just a second, Clarice.”
“Take your time, I want to read this last chapter once more anyway.”
I ran up the steps to my room to get the books I had to return to the library.
Me and Jimmie had started taking turns staying with Father.
I’d go to the library with Clarice every other day and Jimmie would go over to Dr. Bracy’s and out to the fields to get wild vegetables on the days it wasn’t his turn to watch Father.
I started to stick my head into Mother and Father’s room to say goodbye.
Jimmie and Father were whispering. Whispers grab hold of your attention like nothing else.
Me and Father never talked about what happened on the lake, so I was surprised to hear him say, “There we were on Lake Myth Again, pulling in fith right and left.”
Jimmie said, “Perch?”
“Perch, walleye and bluegillth. We notithed a fog bank further out on the lake and thomeone thought we thould head back, but we thtayed a little longer.” He stopped.
I held my breath waiting for what he was about to say, but Jimmie said, “Why’s it called a fog
bank
, Pa? It’s not like you could get a loan there, or like you could rob it or nothing.”
Father said, “Not a bank in that way, Jim, more like a mound, an area higher than what’th around it.”
I bet he was staring over Jimmie’s shoulder, trying to get deep into his story. I stuck my head into the room. I didn’t really want to hear this.
“Goodbye, Father, I’m off to the library.”
“No! Detha, you come in and lithen too.”
Jimmie said, “Pa’s telling what
“Roscoe, don’t you think you should just relax and have your—”
Father said, “All I know ith that I
have
to tell what happened out there.”
“Roscoe. Maybe you’re—”
“Peg, I really need to talk.”
Mother looked at him hard. “Children, go outside until your father and I are done talking.”
Father stood up. “No! I need to tell all of you.”
Mother stood up and put her hand on his arm. “Roscoe, you’re just going to—”
Father snatched his arm away. “Don’t worry, Peg, I’m going to tell the truth, I won’t lie.”
Mother’s 1-1-1 lines popped up and she sat very slowly back in her chair.
She picked up her fork and started pushing around the carrots Jimmie’d brought home.
Father said, “No one’th to blame, we had bad luck from the jump. It went wrong right away but we couldn’t do anything about it, how can you thay who did what wrong?”
He stared down at his plate.
I looked over at Jimmie. He was just as scared as me.
Mother pointed at us, then the door.
We were happy to leave. Seeing Father like this was worse than seeing him out cold in bed.
I got up, leaned down. “Kisses … kisses … kisses make you stronger.”
He wrapped his arms around me and Jimmie. “Thank you, Detha, Jimmie. Thank all of you for everything. I apologithe, Peg.”
We went into the living room and Mother helped Father up. As she passed us on the couch she told Father, “Back to bed for you, buthter. Kids, I’ll be right back.”
Jimmie reached over and held my hand. “Lockjaw. He’s got to fight off lockjaw.…”
“No, Jimmie, Father doesn’t have tetanus, it’s something else.”
“Naw, sis, I didn’t mean he has lockjaw for real. It’s like what Daddy told me. Remember? He said that some of the time you get through whatever hurt you and you think you’re all healed up, but there’s still something inside that can come back and kill you. Daddy beat Lake Michigan but now there’s something inside he’s still got to beat. He’s not done fighting yet. Almost like he’s got lockjaw.”
I didn’t know whether to be scared about what Jimmie said, or amazed that he was making so much sense.
Chapter Fourteen
The Sad Truth About Jokes
Clarice was early. I was sitting on the couch reading when she tapped on the door.
“You ready?” She had her books in her arms.
We hugged and I said, “Just a second, Clarice.”
“Take your time, I want to read this last chapter once more anyway.”
I ran up the steps to my room to get the books I had to return to the library.
Me and Jimmie had started taking turns staying with Father.
I’d go to the library with Clarice every other day and Jimmie would go over to Dr. Bracy’s and out to the fields to get wild vegetables on the days it wasn’t his turn to watch Father.
I started to stick my head into Mother and Father’s room to say goodbye.
Jimmie and Father were whispering. Whispers grab hold of your attention like nothing else.
Me and Father never talked about what happened on the lake, so I was surprised to hear him say, “There we were on Lake Myth Again, pulling in fith right and left.”
Jimmie said, “Perch?”
“Perch, walleye and bluegillth. We notithed a fog bank further out on the lake and thomeone thought we thould head back, but we thtayed a little longer.” He stopped.
I held my breath waiting for what he was about to say, but Jimmie said, “Why’s it called a fog
bank
, Pa? It’s not like you could get a loan there, or like you could rob it or nothing.”
Father said, “Not a bank in that way, Jim, more like a mound, an area higher than what’th around it.”
I bet he was staring over Jimmie’s shoulder, trying to get deep into his story. I stuck my head into the room. I didn’t really want to hear this.
“Goodbye, Father, I’m off to the library.”
“No! Detha, you come in and lithen too.”
Jimmie said, “Pa’s telling what
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