The Wake Up by Catherine Ryan Hyde

Author:Catherine Ryan Hyde [Hyde, Catherine Ryan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781542047951
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Published: 2017-12-04T16:00:00+00:00

The man’s wife gave him cookies. They were from the store, but still tasty. And she put the sugar bowl next to his lemonade glass, which he appreciated. Because he wanted it much sweeter than she had made it.

“You must be May’s boy,” she said.

The man had mentioned his wife’s name, but Aiden could no longer remember it. And he wouldn’t have called her by it anyway. That would have been rude.

“You know my mom?”

“Not really. I’ve heard about her.”

She placed one hand on his head and ruffled his hair, which Aiden thought was strange. He went stock-still and cold inside, and she quickly took the hand back. Aiden wasn’t big on people who touched. Or stood too close.

She smiled in a crooked way and bustled out of the kitchen.

A few minutes later he heard a voice that made his heart skip one beat. A familiar voice.

“Thanks for calling me, Roger,” it said.

“I knew that couldn’t be right. Little slip of a thing out by himself like that? Why, he’s not much bigger than a grasshopper.”

“I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with that boy.”

The comment made Aiden’s ears tingle and burn. Not that he hadn’t known that Harris Delacorte didn’t like him. Of course he’d known. But there’s knowing and then there’s knowing. And, as it turned out, one of the varieties hurt more than the other.

“He seems like a nice enough little guy, Harris. Stepkids are always hard at first. Give him some time.”

Aiden found himself leaning in his seat. Sideways, toward the kitchen door. Hoping to hear more, and also hoping not to. If his new stepfather had a comment on Roger’s advice, Aiden never heard it.

Seconds later Harris Delacorte was standing in the kitchen doorway. Suddenly, just like that. Aiden straightened up quickly and tried to pretend he had not been listening. Meanwhile he felt his insides solidify, like concrete setting up and curing.

Harris Delacorte sighed. Then he sat down across the table, picked up a cookie from the plate, and tried to catch Aiden’s eye. Aiden made sure that didn’t happen.

“You can’t even look at me?” the older man asked after a time.

Aiden stared down at his plate and didn’t answer.

“You know how old that mare is?”

“What’s a mare?”

“A female horse.”

“Oh.”

“You know how old she is?”

Aiden said and did nothing. But he could feel the weight of the older man’s stare, even though he wasn’t looking. So he shook his head. Not much. As little as he could get away with and still have it be noticed.

“She’s twenty-seven.”

“That’s not old. That man whose house this is said she was old.”

“Because she is.”

“Twenty-seven’s not old.”

“It is if you’re a horse. Horses only live to be about thirty. Sometimes not even that.”

“Oh,” Aiden said. “Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why do they only live to be thirty?”

“I don’t know. How can I know that? I’m not God. That’s just how long they live. It’s just the way things are. I’m trying to make a point here, boy. You could have killed her running her that hard.

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