While I'm Falling by Laura Moriarty

Author:Laura Moriarty
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Contemporary Women, College students, Family Life, General, Fiction - General, Divorce, American Contemporary Fiction - Individual Authors +, Mothers and daughters, Fiction
ISBN: 9781401310233
Publisher: Hyperion Books
Published: 2010-09-15T19:32:47.240000+00:00

Jimmy picked up the aloe vera plant by the sink and threw it into the garbage, which was on the other side of the kitchen, a good seven feet away. The terra-cotta pot cracked on impact. Haylie and I both jumped.

She recovered first, her hand on her chest. “Are you sure?” She laughed nervously. “It didn’t look de—”

“It had cigarette ash in the soil.” He stood in the middle of the kitchen, his arms crossed, his stance wide. “You know, from the cigarettes we never wanted in the house in the first place? Add that to the bill.”

I looked up slowly, scanning the counter for my mother’s phone. The kitchen still smelled like lemons.

“How many people were here, anyway? Huh? I’m asking you a question.”

His eyes were a little pink, puffy around the edges. He was wearing a Chicago Bulls knit skully, the striped edge pulled low over his brows.

“I don’t know,” I said. “Not that many.”

“That’s not what the neighbors said.” He stepped back, as if trying to get a better look at me.

Haylie checked her watch. “Can we just go? The Merc closes in half an hour.”

Jimmy shook his head. “No no, honey. We’re not going to the coop. I’m going to need more than granola this week. I want Mountain Dew. I want processed meat.” He reached up and gently touched his nose bolt.

Haylie clicked her tongue. She was already wearing her shiny red coat, and black boots that made her almost as tall as Jimmy. She leaned over and picked what I worried was dog hair off one of the knees of her tights. “But only the Merc has organic soy waffles.” Her voice was high-pitched, a little girlish. She kept her head lowered, just her eyes looking up. “You can’t get them anywhere else.”

He suddenly looked pleased. He slapped himself lightly on the forehead. There was no problem, he said. He smiled, his eyes hard on mine. We could go to both stores. We were in no particular hurry, right?

I shrugged. That was all. If he wanted to go to two stores, I could take him to two stores. I had Gretchen’s car for the night. When I’d called, she was studying at the science library. She said her car keys were in her room, and that I needed to try to calm down. “So you forfeit your house-sitting fee,” she’d whispered. “That’s enough. Don’t let him push you around.”

Jimmy was putting on his jacket, but still looking at me, and still standing very close.

“I need to get my mom’s phone,” I said.

Even without the dumb contacts, his eyes, green and very still, looked a little catlike. “Sure, Veronica.” He smiled, and his eyes didn’t move. “After we run our errands.”

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