Alice Hoffman - Turtle Moon by Moon Turtle

Author:Moon Turtle [Turtle, Moon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

SEVEN

The meanest boy in Verity knows the price you pay when you hesitate. He’s known it for a long time. An opportunity presents itself to you, you take it, whether it’s a wallet left unguarded, a record store clerk looking in the opposite direction, or a dark, empty road, which leads in two directions. Stop to think and the momentum fades away, imagine a baby waking in the morning after you’re gone and searching the house for you, imagine a dog slowly starving to death in the heat, and you’ll wind up trotting back the way you’ve come instead of heading for the Interstate, the way you’d planned. All that night the boy stayed awake wondering why he didn’t run when he had the chance, after Julian had disappeared down the driveway, and in the morning, while he ate his oatmeal with raisins, he was still kicking himself for the chance not taken.

He doesn’t plan to miss his chance again, he’s not about to stick around until someone figures he’s guilty of murder or kidnapping or even petty theft. Yes, he brings the breakfast dishes to the sink for Miss Giles and he fills up the little wading pool for the baby and holds her hand so she won t slip while she’s hopping around in the tepid water, but that doesn’t mean he’s staying. The baby loves to play in the water, he remembers that from Long Boat Street, how she’d sit on the steps of the pool beside her mother with a plastic watering can and a pink plastic sieve while he and Laddy splashed each other and held each other’s heads underwater for as long as they dared. This little girl is never going to hold someone’s head underwater in a swimming pool; the boy can tell that already. She’s thoughtful and cautious; when the boy lets go of her hand, to sneak a cigarette behind the woodpile, the baby sounds like she’s about to cry, and he has to come right back and watch her as she sits down carefully in the water and wiggles her toes.

He doesn’t have to be responsible for her and he’s not going to be. He doesn’t have to notice that she looks up at him, quickly, each time he moves, just to make certain he’s still there. So what if she steps out of the pool as soon as he nods to her and picks up her towel when Miss Giles calls them in to lunch; that doesn’t mean he owes her anything.

No one could guess what the boy was really thinking or planning. He eats his franks and beans, even though they turn his stomach. He lies down beside the baby till she falls asleep at nap time. He even hangs the laundry on the line for Miss Giles without being asked. He doesn’t care about anyone and nobody can make him.

He doesn’t care as he sits at the kitchen table and watches Miss Giles stir her batter for

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