“I need one of him,” Eloise says.
“He’s for rent, and there’s another if he’s not available,” I joke.
We laugh as she puts her suitcases in the back of the SUV. “Where’s the little man?”
“That’s the question of the hour.”
I stare up at the house, waiting for the front door to open.
What is this kid up to?
thirteen
Bodhi
“Hey, Bodzilla, what are you doing?”Uncle Waylon knocks on my bedroom door.
“Nothing.”
He twists the doorknob, but I locked it. “You know you can trust me. I keep secrets.”
I fall back on my heels, frustrated. I have no idea how to wrap a jersey. Rising off the floor, I walk to the door, open it, and peek into the hallway.
“It’s only me,” he says.
I open the door enough for him to slip in, then I shut it and lock it again. He stares at the jersey that’s half in the wrapping paper I stole from the basement this morning when Mommy was on the phone.
“What’s this, bud?” He picks up the jersey with my last name on the back and the number two.
“It’s a jersey for the baby.”
His eyes run up and down it. “You bought this?”
I shake my head.
“Who did?”
“Mommy.”
“For what?”
“For Grandma and Grandpa.”
“Shit, no way,” he says.
“You swore.”
Uncle Waylon and Uncle Owen swear a lot in front of me, but I never tell Mommy and Daddy. I don’t want them to think I’m a tattletale.
“Sorry, so you mean your mom already knows she’s having a?—”
“No…” I look at the floor for a sec. “I took the doctor’s envelope from Mommy’s purse.”
His eyebrows raise. “The one she’s been searching for? Damn, Bodzilla, she’s been all over your house and mine searching for that thing.”
“I know.” Now I feel kinda bad about taking it. Mommy looked sad when she couldn’t find it.
He bends down to the floor and picks up the wrapping paper. “So what are you trying to do with it?”
