Mostly the Honest Truth by Jody J. Little

Author:Jody J. Little
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2018-12-28T05:00:00+00:00

Mission

I was relieved when Mr. Moonbeam turned off the potholed road and onto the highway. My hand was hurting again, bad enough to scream the lungs out of my chest, but I sucked up the pain with deep, quiet breaths. I wondered what was going on inside G’s head. I couldn’t see her face, only her dirty sneakers and bare legs. She was probably thinking of all the laws in her black journal that we were breaking. Or maybe all the things that she hadn’t written down as town record keeper since I’d been here, like finding Noreen’s alcohol and Dandy’s rainbow. I was proud of G though. She was as still as a boulder. She was one good stowaway.

I noticed a narrow scar on G’s shin, and I knew that soon I’d probably end up with a serious scar on my hand and wrist from this burn. Pop had a bunch of tiny polka-dot scars on the back of his calves. I asked him once how he got them, and he said he was attacked by a blackberry bush when he was a kid. I wasn’t too sure I believed him, though. It didn’t seem like blackberry prickles would leave marks like that. Maybe I needed to come up with my own blackberry-attack story since I wasn’t planning on telling anyone the real truth about my scar.

“We’ll be lugging in the summer annuals this morning, Loam. This was a good day for you to join me,” Mr. Moonbeam said. “Why didn’t Dandy come?”

“Oh,” Loam said.

I hoped his brain had woken up and he would have a good answer to that.

“Well, I just . . .”

“You needed a break. I dig.”

I was glad his pop didn’t need an explanation. This plan was working like a lucky charm.

They didn’t talk much more. Mr. Moonbeam switched the radio to a station that played all rock songs, and he and Loam sang along. When I felt the old car slow, I knew we were getting close. Finally, we stopped, and Mr. Moonbeam turned off the engine.

“I gotta put my boots on, Dad, so I’ll meet you by the loading truck, okay?”

I heard the car door slam, and then Loam said, “You can get up now. He’s gone.”

G exhaled long and loud, lifting the blanket off her frizzy head. I pulled myself onto the back seat and rolled my neck a bit.

“You two okay?” he said.

“Just stiff and hot.” G moaned.

“You know where we are, right, Jane?” Loam asked. “The Willis nursery?”

“Of course. This is a good spot. It’s not too far from the hospital.”

Loam opened his door. “Okay, make sure you are back and hidden by four.”

“Hey, Loam. Thanks,” I said.

He gave me a fist bump as G and I climbed out of the back seat. I felt a little dizzy when I stood, and a burst of pain in my hand made me lean over and grab the side of the car.

G put her palm on my back. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I lied. “I just crawled out too fast.

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