Running on Empty by Sonya Spreen Bates

Author:Sonya Spreen Bates [Bates, Sonya Spreen]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781459816558
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Published: 2017-11-01T04:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

The next few weeks went by slowly. The weather was cold and mostly clear, and the news was filled with stories about the lack of rain and talk of drought. Homework ramped up at school, and final exams loomed closer. Everyone was talking about graduation, but I couldn’t get excited about it. Not when the future beyond June was so uncertain.

I ran every day before school, and Casey and I trained every weekend. I still couldn’t keep up to her, but at least I wasn’t a total wreck when we finished. I started putting on some muscle and I stopped eating junk food. That was a biggie. Even Dad noticed when he came home one day to find me making grilled chicken with salad instead of mac and cheese. Not that he said anything much. Just kinda looked and nodded and asked if there was enough for two. There wasn’t, but I shared it anyway, and we both pretended we weren’t still hungry.

Casey, on the other hand, was getting thinner and thinner. The running was taking off pounds she didn’t have to lose, and it didn’t look like she was eating. Not regularly anyway. It crossed my mind that maybe she was anorexic, but whenever I brought a snack to have after our run, she gobbled it down like she was starving. Maybe she was. I just had no idea why. And aside from opening up about that Christmas party, she was as tight-lipped as ever, and no amount of good-natured teasing could get her to spill any other secrets.

Just before spring break I was about to head out to meet her for our usual training session when Mom called.

“I’ve got some news,” she said. “I’ll be home at the end of the month.”

“That’s great,” I said. “So Grandma’s better? They don’t need you to look after them anymore?”

There was a long pause. We were on Skype, and I could see Mom biting her lip, her eyes flicking over to something or someone outside of the screen. I heard Grandma’s voice, quiet and serious.

“Just tell him, Mira. He’s a grown boy. He deserves to know.”

The words slipped through me, sharp and quick and deep.

“What’s going on, Mom?” I said.

Mom took a deep breath. “Grandma and Grandpa are going to live in a nursing home,” she said.

“What?” I paused for a second while the words registered in my brain. “Why? I thought Grandma was getting better. You said she was walking now, on crutches.” I sounded like a whiny ten-year-old, but I couldn’t help it.

“She is,” said Mom. “But she’s not well enough to look after Grandpa on her own.”

“Maybe not yet, but soon, right?” I don’t know why it was so important to me. Lots of people lived in nursing homes. It’s what you did when you were old.

“No, I’m afraid not, Leon,” said Mom. “The truth is, Grandpa’s memory loss is getting worse. He needs more help than we can provide at home. Professional help.”

I stared at her through the screen, a massive weight filling my stomach.

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