This Ordinary Life by Jennifer Walkup

Author:Jennifer Walkup
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Luminis Books, Inc.
Published: 2015-12-04T16:00:00+00:00

14

AFTER AN AWESOME after school meeting where Ms. Hudson and I re-listen to this morning’s show, I float all the way home. I cringed when I heard the few seconds of dead air when I realized the mic was out, but I’m hoping she’s right and my recovery was professional enough. She confirmed that the internship has already been narrowed down to just a handful of people. So me getting this interview is beyond lucky this late in the game. The look on her face when we listened to the interview renewed my hope. If she believes I’m good enough to get this, maybe I really do have a shot.

I’m practically humming when I walk in my front door. The smell of burnt popcorn hangs in the air and other than the dripping kitchen faucet, it’s quiet. Too quiet.

“Danny?” I call.

Nothing.

I step back outside. Yep. Mom’s car is in the driveway. Would she have walked somewhere with him? The park down the street?

A nice thought, but fat chance.

I see her ratty brown hair draped over the arm of the couch and notice now the scratching of the needle at the end of the album again. I should throw away those few stupid albums Dad left behind. What is wrong with her? Sighing, I make my way over to her, lifting her limp arm, to expose her face: bloated, smeared eye makeup making her look like some deranged raccoon, and completely passed out. On the coffee table in front of her is all I need to know. An empty vodka bottle and a near-empty two liter of Diet Sprite. The stench of booze wafts off her. Gross.

“Great, Mom. Awesome job.”

And where the hell is Danny?

I check his room, even all his favorite hiding spots, like under his bed or curled up next to his toy box.

Nothing. Panic starts to work its way through me.

Both the front and back yards are empty. I walk up and down our street quickly, peering into every yard I pass, thinking maybe he’s playing outside and lost track of time. But of course, he’s not. Danny is not the kind of kid to wander off and it’s not like he has any neighborhood friends. My pulse drowns out all other sounds. Where the hell is he? I pick up my pace as I walk back to my house, shirt clinging with sweat.

I pull my hair up in a ponytail as I walk back inside, fanning my clammy face.

If something happened to him, I will kill her. What kind of mother—

“Incoming!” Danny’s voice echoes off the tiles. He’s in the bathroom!

I hear a big splash.

“Boom! Swim away! Swim away! Eeek! Shaaaaarrrrkkk attack!”

I burst through the bathroom door. “Danny!”

“Hey, Jazzy!” Danny squints up at me from the bathtub, plastic sharks and fish bobbing in the water around him. My breathing can’t catch up to what my mind sees, but slowly, more slowly than a turtle in mud, my brain gets the telegram. Danny is okay.

But God! He may not have been okay.

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