Brave Like That by Lindsey Stoddard

Brave Like That by Lindsey Stoddard

Author:Lindsey Stoddard
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2020-04-29T00:00:00+00:00


Chapter 13

Finding X

When I get to Grandma’s after school, a woman is playing the piano in the lobby and Grandma is there sitting on the end of the couch. Her right hand is tucked in tight to her side, where it always is, but her left hand is floating in the air in front of her like she’s conducting, moving up and down and left and right in four perfect beats over and over, like Mr. Fletcher’s one-and-two-and-three-and-four-and. Her eyes are closed, and even though the right side of her mouth turns down, I can tell she’s smiling. And her left foot is tapping. Tapping right on beat.

I sit down next to her and pat her left knee.

She grabs my hand but doesn’t open her eyes. “Na na,” she whispers, and I know she’s saying Cyrus, that she knows it’s me and she’s glad I’m here. Her hand squeezes mine. We call this giving strength in my family, when you take a tired, scared hand in your own and squeeze it tight until all your strength flows over.

I gave my grandma strength every day we visited her in the hospital after she had her stroke, and my dad gave me strength every night when we returned home and he tucked me into bed, both of us hoping that Grandma’s words would return tomorrow.

I can feel Grandma’s strength filling me up, and I don’t know how she knows I need it, but I do know that before the song is over and she opens her eyes, both of our left feet are tapping together.

Milly delivers dinner to us in Grandma’s apartment, and there are two extra brownies on my tray. She gives me a wink.

There’s a Twins game on mute and a record playing and Grandma is cutting fish with her fork in her left hand. I want to reach over and do it for her, but I don’t know how to help without making her feel like a little kid. The fish is crispy on one side, and she can’t get the fork through. She spears it and tries to shake it free, but the whole piece of fish lifts up and some of it falls down her shirt.

“Na!” she shouts and slams her fork to the plate.

I move closer and put my right hand on her left and give it a little strength while I count out a beat of one-and-two-and-three-and-four-and over and over, and with my hand I’m telling her to slow down and it’s OK. Slow down and try again.

She takes the fish from her shirt and puts it back on her plate. Then she tries again, slower this time, edging her fork back and forth through the crispy part until it breaks through and she cheers, “Na na na!”

She finishes the rest on her own, going more slowly like I showed her, and I eat all the brownies by the second inning.

“I should have saved one for Dad.”

Grandma shakes her head and waves me off and says, “Na na na,” and it gets us both laughing because I know she’s saying Our secret.



Download



Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.