Hope in the Holler by Lisa Lewis Tyre

Author:Lisa Lewis Tyre
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Young Readers Group
Published: 2018-01-09T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY

I pointed to the box with the familiar writing on it.

“What’s wrong?” Gilbert asked.

“Hoyt and Zane. They were supposed to take the trash to the dump but they didn’t!”

“Figures. Probably pocketed the ten-buck fee instead. So?”

“So, this is the box with Mama’s papers.” I bent over and peeled back the cardboard sides. It was full of envelopes. Some were marked Hospital Bills, or Tax Receipts, but the majority had the Bank of Andro logo on the upper left corner.

Gilbert dropped down beside me. “The bank statements! Which one do you need?”

I flicked a roly-poly bug out of the way. “Look for envelopes postmarked June or December,” I said. “That’s when the checks came.”

We pawed through the papers. It hadn’t rained recently, but they were stiff from where the sun had dried off the mornings’ dew. Gilbert grabbed big handfuls and put them on the ground beside me. “I’ll scoop, you look.”

“March, September, February, bingo! Here’s December.” I pulled it out of the stack and held it against my chest. My heart was beating like I’d just run up the ravine. I frowned. I didn’t even want to find these people, so why was I so excited?

I emptied the envelope onto the ground and picked up the statement. The printout listed all the checks by number and, at the bottom, the amounts credited to the account. Below each number was a scanned printout of the check. It was the second one, right under Mama’s payroll check from Walmart. Two weeks before Christmas, Mama had received a hundred dollars from John and Anita Bowman. Their address was printed right under their name.

“They’re from Lexington,” Gilbert said. “City people!”

It wasn’t their names, or the fact they were from a big city, or even that seeing the check made it real that was making my stomach do flips. It was the section on the check where it said For. In pretty, delicate handwriting, it read Wavie.

Samantha Rose would notice if I came home early, so Gilbert and I hid by the bridge until we saw the bus deposit Frank, Beans and Camille onto the side of the road. As soon as they went inside, I ran up the hill.

Samantha Rose was sitting at the kitchen table eating macaroni and cheese out of its microwavable container. “They give you any more of these at school?”

“No. But Gilbert has extra boxes. You want me to trade him something?”

“Trade? How about you tell him I won’t call the law on his skinny tail for stealing my water the last two years.” She pointed to a chair. “Have a seat.”

I plopped into the uncomfortable metal seat. “What’s up?”

“Mrs. Chipman called,” Samantha Rose told me. “She wants to schedule a home visit.”

At the mention of Mrs. Chipman’s name, my heart skipped a beat. My favorite class at school was Technology, and I’d used my fifteen minutes on the computer last week to research guardianship. I had learned one important thing. There would be a hearing where the minor child’s best interests are taken into account.

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