Amber House by Kelly Moore

Author:Kelly Moore
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Scholastic Books
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

When we got back to the dock at home, Jackson told us he’d deal with the crabs — that it might be better for me not to risk another close encounter. Which sounded good to me. Sam and I skipped off the boat with nothing to carry and nothing to do. We climbed up the steps, singing a little crabbing song Sammy had just invented. The tune was the same six-note one Sam always hummed. I had to fake the words, but Sam was a very forgiving singing partner.

We burst through the kitchen door into the shadows of an unlit room. The woman who lifted her head to face me was my grandmother, the way she’d been forty years before. She had a glass with golden liquor in it. Her shoulders were rounded and hunched. Her face was bleak.

“Where have you been?”

I was confused for a moment. Why was this vision talking to me? Then Ida’s face became my mother’s, equally cold. “Where have you been?” she repeated.

“Jeez, I’m sorry,” I said. “We thought we were going on a quick errand with Jackson, but then it turned into this crabbing expedition —”

“Why are you spending so much time with that boy?”

Sammy slipped out the door to the rear hall. I wished I could go with him.

“Jackson’s a really nice guy, Mom, and really great with Sammy —”

“Why? You never stop to ponder that question, Sarah. What’s in it for the other guy? What does he want from you?”

“I didn’t think it was that big of a d —”

“You didn’t think at all. That’s your problem. You just don’t think. What do you suppose Jackson is thinking? Haven’t you noticed how he looks at you? Is it fair for you to be encouraging him?”

Encouraging him? Oh, God, she thought he had a crush on me. Did he have a crush on me?

“Look!” I blurted. “There is nothing going on between me and Jackson. Richard is coming by tomorrow morning and we’re going to spend the day together at his school. Okay? Everything is fine. Everybody’s using everyone else for their own nefarious purposes, exactly the way they’re supposed to, all right, Mom? Jackson is just a friend. God! He’s not even that — we’re leaving in ten days. He’s just someone to kill time with, okay?”

I heard the smallest noise. I turned and saw the exterior door was barely ajar. I opened it. The pot of crabs had been left on the step. Jackson was nowhere to be seen.

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