The Summer Kitchen by Lisa Wingate

Author:Lisa Wingate [Wingate, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781101060247
Publisher: Penguin Group USA, Inc.
Published: 2009-01-02T08:00:00+00:00

Chapter 14

Cass

It was pretty fun, helping at Mrs. Kaye’s house, even though we ended up pulling weeds instead of painting, when it seemed like painting would be better. Pulling weeds was something to do, anyway, instead of hanging around the apartment. The dude with the slow elevator, Teddy, was cool, too. Back when I was real young, my mama had a brother who’d got his head banged up in a motorcycle wreck when he was a teenager, and he was like that. We used to go visit him at the nursing home. I’d forgot what ever happened to him, but now I guessed he must of died sometime, and Mama just didn’t make a big deal of it to us.

Anyway, Teddy was fun. He knew a lot about plants, and he took time to show Opal little caterpillars and butterflies, which most adults wouldn’t bother with when they had work to do. He put a ladybug on Opal’s hand, and she giggled at it crawling up her arm. She squealed and laughed when it flew away, and it came in my mind that Opal didn’t laugh much. She was always kind of careful and quiet around people, like she was afraid they’d notice she was there. After the ladybug, we started pulling out clumps of grass and throwing them over our shoulders. Bobo chased them and beat them up like they were wild animals, and Opal laughed so hard she rolled on the ground.

Once we had the grass out from around the rosebush, Teddy cut some pieces off it. His hands were big, and must of been thick as leather, because the prickers didn’t even bother him. Opal pricked her finger and got a little dot of blood, though, and I thought Teddy was gonna pass out.

“Oh, got a boo-boo, Mama!” Teddy’s mama, the lady in the wheelchair, was back by then to pick him up, but she’d had the nurse get her out of the car, and come to look at the flowers. Good thing, because for a big guy, Teddy was sure freaked over a little blood. He took Opal’s hand and pulled her over to his mom’s wheelchair, so she could see the finger with the blood on it. Bobo got up from the shade to check what all the commotion was about.

“Ohhhh, not so bad,” Teddy’s mom said, then she wiped away the blood with a hankie and smiled at Opal. “All better. Such a pred-dee girl.” Teddy’s mom talked kind of funny, and her mouth hung down on one side, but she was real nice.

Opal just blinked up at her, like she didn’t have any idea what Teddy’s mama was talking about.

“Say thanks, Opal,” I told her. “She said you’re pretty.”

Opal got too embarrassed to talk, like usual, and she pulled the front of her T-shirt up over her arms so that everyone could see her belly.

“Opal!” I yanked her shirt back down, so she’d know not to do that again. I remembered when I

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