Not My Boy by Kelly Simmons

Author:Kelly Simmons
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Published: 2020-10-05T00:00:00+00:00

Twenty-Seven

Eva

The best thing about living in a small town is there aren’t too many places to hide. I’d gone over to Hannah’s house three mornings in a row after drop-off only to find her gone. And who could blame her? Between the police cars, the backhoes, the Eyewitness News reporters trolling for information, and the nosy neighbors, who would want to stay there?

From what I could see, peering through the windows of her porch, her computer was missing from her kitchen table, where she always sat and worked, so there were only a few logical places to look. A diner, a few coffee shops, but I thought those would be too noisy for her, too many people. No, I figured my girl for more of a back-corner-of-the-library girl, and as soon as I pulled in to the parking lot, I saw her car. Bingo.

Finding her inside was another story. It was one of those newfangled libraries, designed by a famous architect with lots of public spaces and corners and twists, but about ten minutes later, I walked up to a communal table where five or six people sat, staring at their computers like they couldn’t bear to look at each other, and tapped her on the shoulder, and she jumped.

“Jesus, Mom. You scared me.”

“Well, you look like you fell down some kind of zombie hole. What are you reading?” I squinted at her screen but couldn’t see it without my cheaters.

“I’m not reading. I’m writing.”

“Oh, that memoir by that awful woman?”

“Shh,” she said.

“What? I didn’t say her name.”

Everyone around her had headphones on, so what difference did it make what I said or didn’t say? They reminded me of athletes coming through the tunnels, psyching themselves up with music. That was how bad their work was—they had to play inspirational music just to force themselves to type. Was that any way to live?

“Well, I apologize for startling you,” I said, attempting to sit next to her but sliding off the tiny plastic stool and nearly going onto the floor. “But you are avoiding me. Good Lord, how can you sit on this? It’s the size of a tin can, and there’s no back support.”

“I’m not avoiding you. I’m avoiding the stupid neighbors, and I have work to do.”

“Okay, whatever you say. Is there somewhere we can talk?”

“No, Mom, it’s a library. They kind of frown on talking.”

“Well, how about lunch then?”

She agreed to pack up her things and go with me to a new bagel place nearby. Hannah had always loved bagels; ever since she was a little girl, she’d twirl them around her finger before eating them. She was the same way with doughnuts. Her father and I used to wonder if she’d become a drum major with all that twirling and spinning, but Hannah had never gravitated toward anything that splashy. She was lovely of course—anyone with half a brain could see she had a plain beauty about her—but not destined to be a cheerleader or a pageant queen.

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