Speechless by Adam P. Schmitt

Author:Adam P. Schmitt [Schmitt, Adam P.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781536204117
Publisher: Candlewick Press
Published: 2018-12-07T16:00:00+00:00

A few summers ago, it was the hottest I can remember. Victor was at our house for the afternoon, and Mom was almost ready to agree to him sleeping over. My parents love Victor. He’s that friend who whenever his name is mentioned, it’s always followed by “What a nice boy” or “Such nice manners for a ten-year-old.”

She kept suggesting we play outside, but we found the calm of air-conditioning and video games too enticing. That changed when she told us company was coming.

“Your aunt will be here in a few minutes. Are you sure you don’t want a Popsicle outside?”

Oh, no. Just because you packaged bad news in a Popsicle doesn’t mean I didn’t hear it.

“Is she coming alone?” I knew the answer, but I hoped.

Mom was helping Aunt Rose choose paint colors for their bathroom. So that meant Victor and I had to entertain my cousins.

“Patrick and Sofia will be here, too.” My face did not hide my feelings. Patrick loved coming over. I’m not sure if it was because of us, though. I think he liked any reason to not be in his own house.

“Tell you what, why don’t you all take Victor to Gerald’s for a treat. How does that sound, Victor?”

Smart move. Asking polite Victor if the plan is OK with him, knowing he’ll agree. Fine. A trip to Gerald’s wasn’t a bad compromise for the company we had to bring along.

“That sounds great. Thank you so much,” Victor responded. He was abnormally polite with adults, and they loved him for it.

Ten dollars was the usual bribe for me to run to Gerald’s Drugs for a treat with my cousins. Patrick liked it best when it was just the two of us, but he knew this was a package deal. Sofia usually came with us, and for the price of ten dollars, we got to pick out whatever we wanted.

Since Victor was joining the group, Mom upped it to twenty dollars. She expected us to take our time and didn’t hold back reminding me of it. Sometimes we would go to the creek and look for bullfrogs; other times we would walk to the park on Edison Street to see if the metal slides were too hot to touch.

Once they arrived, Aunt Rose wasted no time scurrying us out. She wasn’t good at hiding it when her limit was reached with Patrick. So the group made its way to Gerald’s with the promise of sugar and freedom ahead.

Walking to Gerald’s was routine to us. Patrick usually talked the whole trip while I pretended to listen as best I could. His rants usually began with an “If I only had a __________” statement and went in any direction from there. The blank was typically filled in with some fantasy item, like a pet shark or a Civil War cannon.

Even though Victor was polite, that didn’t mean he was shy. He had no problem squelching Patrick’s ideas. Patrick started talking about the possibility of silver in the ground, and if he mined the right places, he would be rich.

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