Remember Dippy by Shirley Reva Vernick

Author:Shirley Reva Vernick
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Cinco Puntos Press
Published: 2013-07-24T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 9

I didn’t sleep very well that night, and when Aunt Collette woke me the next morning, I felt like I’d only just drifted off. This must be how Niko felt all the time: stressed, guilty, pressured—and exhausted. Aunt Collette, on the other hand, acted as chipper as if she’d slept till noon. It was funny to see Cinderella back in her 7-11 shirt and cap after her princess look last night. But she didn’t seem to mind the tumble down the fashion ladder; in fact, she was downright cheery.

“Let’s go, sweetie, I’m on the fly,” she sang. “It’s a beautiful day—enjoy it.” And then she practically skipped out of the room.

Usually I pop up as soon as she calls me, but this time I stayed in bed a while, wondering if I’d ruined things for her and TJ. Enjoy the day? How could I, knowing I might have wrecked everyone’s dreams? No golf course for TJ (or Mo), no boyfriend for Aunt Collette, no victory over the evil Dirk for me. Could it get any worse? Aunt Collette must’ve sensed that I was dawdling because she honked her horn right under my window as she pulled out. “All right, all right,” I muttered and dragged my sorry self out of bed.

When I got downstairs I didn’t see Mem—the TV wasn’t even on—but the front door was open. Glancing out, I could see the back of a man sitting on the steps talking with Mem. I pushed the screen, and they both turned around to face me.

“Mr. Boots?” What was my cranky neighbor doing here?

“That’s right,” he answered, and in a minute his dog, Millie, came barreling from the backyard barking wildly at me, as usual.

“I told you Chip comes to see me,” Mem beamed. He reached out his hand for Millie, and she obediently sat at his feet without making a peep.

“I didn’t know your name was Chip,” I confessed to Mr. Boots.

“My parents named me Chetwin,” he chuckled. “With a name like that, you pick up a nickname pretty quick.” I’d never heard him laugh before. I’d never even seen him smile, come to think of it. He looked different now, less wrinkled up. I didn’t get it.

“Ma almost ran over Millie,” Mem said. “Did you hear her blast her horn?”

“Oh, that’s why she honked.” I looked to the street for Mr. Boots’ car, but it wasn’t there. “Did you walk all the way over here?”

“Of course. Millie and me, we walk everywhere—when we’re both having a good day, right girl? Hey Remember, you got any Twinkies?”

“I’ll get them,” I said. “I’m kind of in the mood, myself.” I found an almost full box in the pantry and brought them out to the porch. I ate mine whole, but Mem and Mr. Boots sucked out the cream and fed the rest to Millie.

“Hey Johnny, guess where Chip was born,” Mem said.

“Hull?” Mr. Boots—Chip—has always lived next to me, so I figured he was from here.

“Nope—Paris.”

I stopped my Twinkie in mid-air.

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