Johnny Kellock Died Today by Hadley Dyer

Author:Hadley Dyer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada
Published: 2017-12-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Nine

Martha and I set out for the Hydrostone Market first thing. Martha wanted to get the week’s shopping over with before she had to go to work. We had a long, mixed-up list—thread, Noxema, shoe polish, butter. I wondered if David would be at the house when we got back.

“Rosalie!” Mama called from the chesterfield, just before the screen door closed behind us. “On your way back, pick up two pounds of ground steak. Tell Jack Newberry if he sends you home with something fatty, it will be trotted right back to him.”

“Yes, Mama!” Martha called back. She pushed me down the porch steps before I could be smart.

On the way to the Hydrostone, I told Martha about my conversation with Norman the night before. “We probably don’t have enough money to buy that place Cecil was going on about,” I said. “So I guess that’s that.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.”

“What do you mean?”

“We’d sell our house, of course. And you know that big cigar box where Norman keeps the extra bullets for his hunting gun?”

“Yup.” We weren’t supposed to touch that box.

“Yes,” Martha corrected me. “He’s been putting money in there for years.”

“How do you know?”

“I dropped it once when I was cleaning. I’d wager even Mama doesn’t know how much is in there.”

“How much?”

“I don’t know, either. But that was a long time ago and there was a lot even then.”

“Are you saying we got enough to buy that lot?” I could feel my chest getting tight just thinking about leaving our house. I know houses don’t have feelings, but it seemed cruel to just up and go as soon as we could afford something better. I knew every inch of that old place. We’d all been born there. And the aunties had died there. And, anyway, where would I go to school? What would I do without Marcy? How could we ever leave the North End? Aw geez, going to the butcher wasn’t so bad.

“If Norman says we’re not moving, we’re not moving,” Martha said. “It’s just that money may not be the issue.”

“Do you want to move?”

“I’m going to university in a year, remember? That’s a promise I’m going to keep no matter where the family lives.”

Promised our parents, I guess. Martha was going to be the first of us Normans to get a university degree—and maybe the last. I was kind of hoping I’d make it big as an artist without going through all that.

Hardly anyone was at the Hydrostone yet, and we ticked off our list lickety-split. While Martha was in Mr. Butt’s drugstore buying Noxema for Mama, I drifted across the street to the Blue Nose Diner. The menu was posted high in the window and I stretched up on my toes to read the beverage section. I thought maybe Martha could be convinced to buy me a milkshake before we headed home. We could sit at the counter, just like the kids in the Bobbysoxers comics, swirling the foamy chocolate around in cold, heavy glasses.

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.