Runner Boy by Jay Mackey

Author:Jay Mackey [Mackey, Jay]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: River Sky Publishing
Published: 2019-12-02T22:00:00+00:00

31

Tuesday, October 29 – Wednesday, October 30

I don’t sleep well. I toss and turn in my sleeping bag on the floor of the Murphys’ living room, trying to get a handle on just what Mom had said. If I have disappointed her and Dad, that implies they expect something different. But if they know me, why would they expect anything?

Not a slacker? How many times have I heard, “Brady, you’ll never get into college,” “Brady, you need to apply yourself,” or “Brady, why can’t you be more like your [choose one: brother, sister 1, sister 2]?”

Do I think I’m a slacker? Not really. I’m just not motivated by the same things as they are.

Mom really did seem upset. But how can she not see why I feel like I do?

And what next? Am I ready to fall into line, do what they expect, give them the old yes sir, no sir, how high sir crap? Not likely.

I’m determined to “figure it out” like the colonel said. I’m not sure what that means yet, but I will. I’ve figured out how we can continue on our mission to find my sister when my parents had all but given up, haven’t I?

We all get up early, eat some more soup—the Murphys don’t have a chicken coop, so no eggs—and finish the packing we’d started the night before. We have to fill our backpacks with just the few things we need most. Basically, that means we are limited to a change of clothes plus a jacket. We each have to carry some kitchen stuff, a pan or utensils, so we can boil water and cook whatever food we find.

Dad’s able to use the sleeping bags to provide some cushioning from the bumps we’re bound to encounter. We also pack as much water as we can in the trailer, but it isn’t much.

I guess Mom found the rifle while I was gone. Clark tells me she threw a fit, but only a small one, as Dad made her understand how important it is, especially after being attacked and all. Clark doesn’t say anything about the handgun in my backpack. I check and it’s still there.

Claire tells me that after I left, Mom and Dad had a major fight. Apparently, Mom wanted to go look for me, but Dad said to wait, that I’d come back. Mom wasn’t so sure, but the lack of transportation stymied her efforts to go out and search. The cars that were still drivable were being used to haul doctors and injured people to and from hospitals, and it was too dark to venture out on foot or bicycle.

The next morning, Mr. Murphy had gone to get the pickup from somebody up the road, and he and Mom had driven around awhile looking for me. I was probably mucking out the barn when they drove through Rabbit Hash, the little town near where the colonel lives.

I hadn’t really thought about what Mom and Dad would do after I left. Oh,

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