Fly Away Home by Jennifer Weiner

Author:Jennifer Weiner [Weiner, Jennifer]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi, pdf
Tags: Fiction, General, Literary, Political, Family life, Contemporary Women
ISBN: 9780743294287
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2011-05-03T04:00:00+00:00

In New York City, she punched the button for the elevator in her parents’ building, unconsciously closing her eyes and holding her breath, as always, as it ascended past the eighth floor, where that boy had messed with her. She’d expected to find the apartment empty, had planned on a little private nap in her old bedroom, but she was surprised to find her father in the small, cluttered kitchen, a low-ceilinged room that was always dark and that her mother had always complained about. Barefoot, unshaven, in sweatpants and a stained white undershirt, he smelled stale, but he brightened when he saw her.

“Hey, Lizzie-Bee,” he said.

He’s falling apart, she thought, glancing over his shoulder at the pizza boxes and takeout containers on the kitchen table, the stacks of newspapers cluttering the living room beyond it. “How you doing?” he asked, still holding her.

“Fine,” she said, trying not to be too obvious about wiggling out of his grasp. He did not smell good at all. She wondered whether he was depressed, and tried to remember the symptoms as they’d been taught in Minnesota. Change of appetite, change in sleeping habits, lack of interest in things you once enjoyed.

“Diana good?” her father asked. She followed him into his office in time to see him sit down on top of his laptop, which was sitting on the couch, next to a blanket and a pillow.

“Dad …”

“Shit.” He got to his feet, shaking his head. He flipped the laptop open and shook it gingerly, as if it were a Magic 8 Ball. “You think it’s broken?”

Lizzie looked over his shoulder at the darkened screen. She pressed the power button, and the screen flared to life.

“Thank God,” her father exclaimed, then looked at her, shamefaced. “I broke one of these guys already.” As Lizzie stared, her father gave an unhappy chuckle. “I guess I’m not doing so well on my own.”

“Well, listen,” she said casually—if Diana had, in fact, ratted her out, she’d find out in a few seconds. “I’ve got a little time before my job starts. Maybe I could, you know, help out.”

He looked at her, eager as a puppy dog who’s just heard the rattle of a leash. “That would be great, Lizzie. I’ve got some ADL dinner to go to tomorrow night, and I’m …” He swept his arm out, indicating the cluttered living room. “I’ve got documents I’m supposed to read, I’ve got a schedule, somewhere, but I don’t know where it went, and I know I’m supposed to sit down with the corn lobbyist sometime this week, but I’m not sure when. I think I forgot Grandma Cindy’s birthday …” He stopped talking and looked at his feet, seeming startled to realize that they were bare. “Thing is, Lizzie, your mom took care of a lot of this stuff. And Marta’s off for August.”

She nodded, feeling relief as sweet as the rush of a drug hitting her bloodstream. She could be useful again. She could help. “Let me clean up in here,” she said.

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