Lucky Linus by Gene Gant

Author:Gene Gant [Gant, Gene]
Language: eng
Format: epub

ANDY GOT home just as Mrs. Nelson was putting dinner on the table. He freaked out over my battered face and didn’t seem to believe me when I said I was okay. It felt good that he was so worried about me.

After dinner Wendy went down to the Hanovers, and Mrs. Nelson took off to meet a client who wanted to look at a house. It was my turn to clean up the kitchen, but Andy took on the job—without Mrs. Nelson even suggesting it—out of his concern over my concussion. Instead of climbing back in bed, I went outside and sat on the patio to watch the stars come out.

Night came on slowly, and the air got cooler. I pulled my robe tight around me and tucked in my arms, but my body still got chilled. The cold didn’t bother me, really. As I snuggled in the chair, my thoughts turned to Kevin. What was he doing now? Having dinner? Doing homework? Was he thinking of me? He had probably e-mailed me, or he could be online right now waiting for me to log on. As badly as I wanted to fire up my laptop, I wouldn’t let myself do it because I’d promised Mrs. Nelson I would take it easy for a few hours.

In the house the phone rang. I kept staring into the sky, enjoying the quiet of the gathering night around me. After a while Andy pushed open the door and came out onto the patio. He had the phone in his hand.

“Hey, Linus. It’s Dad. He wants to talk to you.” Andy passed the phone to me and took a seat at the table.

Mr. Nelson called home pretty regularly when he was on the road. He said it was his way of staying a part of the family. He always made it a point to talk to me when he called, just as he did with his wife and kids. I put the receiver to my ear. “Hi, Mr. Nelson.”

“Hey there, buddy. How’s it going?” His voice sounded upbeat like always. There was noise in the background—engines idling, people talking, horns beeping.

“It’s all good,” I replied, trying to make my voice as cheery as his.

“I heard you ran into some trouble at school today. You took a couple of hits to the head.”

“Yeah, but I’m still here.”

“Well, good. But I don’t want you fighting anymore, okay? You could get hurt, and I don’t want that. This guy—Andy says his name is Wyatt—I’m not going to have him bullying you. I’m calling the school tomorrow to talk to the principal about this.”

“Okay.” And some day after he did that, Wyatt was going to catch me alone in one of the bathrooms and make me lap water out of the toilet bowl.

“I wish I was there with you all. With this new route I’m on, you and I haven’t had a chance to spend any real time together. But I’ll be home next Friday. We’re all going to drive up to Memphis to be with Beth for the weekend.

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