Fly Like a Bird by Jana Zinser

Author:Jana Zinser
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BQB Publishing
Published: 2019-09-01T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

THE GREAT PURPLE DOG

The strong winds in late spring bent the green stalks of the tulips until the colorful blooms almost touched the ground. April’s warmth coaxed the buds on the trees to grow. Life returned to Iowa’s black soil. With the end of the school year nearing, Ivy’s escape from Coffey had almost arrived. She and Jesse had planned to backpack across Europe right after they graduated high school.

Ivy picked up a passport application from Uncle Walter at the post office, but it required a birth certificate. Grandma said she couldn’t remember where Ivy’s birth certificate was, so as soon as school let out that day, Ivy went to the courthouse records office to get a certified copy.

Maggie’s neighbor, Ruth Jackson, still worked as a clerk for the county. She greeted Ivy at the records counter. “Hi, Ivy. What’s up?”

“Hey, Ruth. Grandma can’t find my birth certificate. I need to get one for my passport.”

“Finally going to Europe, huh?”

Ivy smiled and nodded.

“I’ll just need your birth date and full name,” said Ruth as she handed Ivy a slip of paper.

Ivy wrote down her details and passed the paper back to Ruth.

“So, you’re finally getting out of Coffey, huh?”

“Yeah, as soon as I graduate.”

“Well, good for you. I can’t even get Virgil to go to Des Moines with me. Says he’s got everything he needs here, and you never know where you might not be welcome. I’ll be right back.”

Ruth disappeared into a room filled with white file cabinets lined up against the walls like giant teeth. She emerged several minutes later with a certified copy of Ivy’s birth certificate. “Here you go, Ivy. So, when you’re gallivanting around Europe, who’s going to take care of your Uncle Walter after his knee surgery?”

“What are you talking about? No one told me anything about knee surgery.” Anger surged through Ivy. Why were they always keeping stuff from her? She wasn’t a child anymore.

“Oh gosh, Ivy, I’m sorry. Shouldn’t have said anything. Miss Shirley mentioned it and . . .”

“No, I’m glad you did. Thank you for the birth certificate.” She looked down at the certificate and froze. Her birth certificate did not include her father’s name. She set the document on the counter and pointed to the empty space. “Hey, Ruth, how come my dad’s name isn’t on this?”

Ruth glanced down to where Ivy was pointing. “Probably just the hospital’s mistake. You wouldn’t believe the sloppy record keeping I’ve seen.”

“Seems weird,” Ivy said.

“It’s sort of unusual. But it’ll still get you a passport.”

Ivy nodded slowly. “Okay, thanks, Ruth. See you around.”

She walked out of the building, her mind whirling in confusion. No father on her birth certificate and no one had bothered to tell her about Uncle Walter’s knee surgery.

Grandma had stopped driving as soon as Ivy got her driver’s license a few years back. Her arthritis made it very painful to drive and even getting into a car took a major effort. Uncle Walter wouldn’t be able to drive after having knee surgery.

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.