The Big Dig Page 8

  “Oh, for Christ’s sake,” Josie said. “Don’t get your knickers in a twist. You want fancy store milk? I’ll get you fancy store milk. Muriel will take me this week.”

  “Thank you,” Lucy said, blowing out a sigh of relief.

  “You done with that?” Josie pointed her cigarette at the waffles.

  “Yup.” Lucy slid the plate over and watched Josie drown the waffles in more syrup till every hole overflowed.

  Colin was so busy digging, he didn’t notice Lucy until she was standing right beside him.

  “Hey,” he said, wiping the sweat from his forehead. “Good timing. I need a break.”

  The hole was so deep now that Lucy could sit and dangle her feet over the edge with still a few inches to spare. She pulled a handful of suckers from her back pocket and held them up.

  Colin dropped his shovel and sat down next to her. “Sweet. Thanks.”

  “I found a whole drawer of them in the kitchen.”

  “Wow.”

  “Yeah. She’s not what you’d call a health nut.”

  “Lucky for us.”

  “They were probably giving them out free somewhere, and she kept going back until her purse was full.”

  Colin laughed and crunched on his sucker. She threw him another one. They sat quietly for a few minutes enjoying the breeze coming up over the bank from the water.

  “So what’s it like?” he asked. “Living with her. Her being deaf and all that.”

  Lucy moved her sucker to one side and jammed it into her cheek. “Not that different, actually. Like sometimes she talks loud, I guess. But she’s really good at lip-reading, so as long as you don’t mumble and you look right at her, it’s fine. And I act things out a lot too, without even realizing it.” She shrugged. “But yeah, other than that, it’s pretty normal.”

  They went back to enjoying the breeze. She felt him looking at her.

  “I saw you before, you know,” he said. “Before you came to the hole.”

  “Yeah. The window. I know. Thanks for pointing it out, though.”

  “No. I mean like a long time ago.”

  She moved her sucker to the other cheek. “What?”

  “The funeral. I was at your mom’s funeral.”

  Some of the lemon goo went down the wrong way and she coughed. “What? How come you never said?”

  “I dunno. I just didn’t.”

  “You were there?” She said it slowly, like she was trying to understand the words as she spoke them.

  He nodded. “It was really weird. Just Mom and me. We came all that way and then when we got there, it was like she didn’t want to see anybody, like she didn’t want anyone to know we’d come.”

  “What do you mean?” Lucy watched him bend his sucker stick in half, back and forth till it broke.

  “Well. We came. We went to the funeral. She talked to your dad. Then we left. I pretended not to notice, you know, how quick it all was, how weird she was acting. But like I said. It was weird.”

  Lucy thought for a minute. “Did you ask her about it?”

  “No. She was so upset. I sort of didn’t want to bring it up.”

  “Why would she even take you?”

  “Dad had to stay home and look after the twins. Maybe she didn’t want to go alone.”

  “Yeah. I guess that makes sense.”

  Colin jumped off the edge into the hole and picked up his shovel. “Could just be she was so upset that she got weird.”

  Lucy slid her butt back and leaned against a tree. She needed some time to let Colin’s words sink in. She let her mind drift back to that day of the funeral, something she almost never did. Most of it was a blur. What she did remember about that day was the fear of not being able to make it through. She knew she couldn’t let herself fall apart; she was the only thing holding her dad together. The memory made her nose sting and her eyes get watery.

  The church had been completely full, standing-room only. Lucy had stared straight ahead at the altar, focusing on anything except what was actually happening around her. She had counted. Counted the members in the choir, the candles, the chain links in the chandelier. Whenever she’d felt like crying, she looked up and counted the ceiling tiles. That way, the tears collected in her eyes and didn’t spill out. The worst had been when she felt her dad shaking beside her, sobbing. She had wanted to reach out, comfort him, touch his hand, but she couldn’t. So she had stood there, still as a statue, and had kept counting the ceiling tiles until it was over.

  Those were the moments that were crystal clear. She had no memory of things like what the minister had said, who had been there, or who she’d talked to. Colin could have easily been there and she didn’t remember. She just may not have seen him. There had been so many people….

  “Damnit!” Colin swore loudly and snapped her back.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “Rock. Ginormous!” he said in disgust, pointing to the floor of the hole.

  She got up, peeked over, and tried to look sympathetic. “Oh yeah, I see.”

  He let his shovel drop. “Got any suckers left?”

  “Yeah, just a sec.” She weeded through the debris of empty wrappers in her pocket. “Should be one—wait. Do you hear that?”

  They both tilted their heads, straining their ears. There was something—a sound—off in the distance.

  “What is that?” Lucy asked.

  “If I didn’t know better, I’d swear it was…the theme from Star Wars?” Colin scrunched up his eyebrows and looked around.

  Lucy listened. He was right. Someone was whistling, loudly. And it was definitely the theme from Star Wars. She squinted off into the distance. It was a girl. And she was walking across the field towards them.

  “Do you see what I see?” he said.

  Lucy nodded, and kept nodding as the girl got closer. The girl had her hair done up in two buns, one over each ear, and she had what looked to be a white sheet draped around her, toga style. It was tied at her waist with a pink skipping rope.

  “Who is that?” Lucy whispered.

  “Isn’t it obvious? It’s Princess Leia.”

  Chapter 9

  Lucy was waiting for the girl to veer off in another direction, but she didn’t. She kept coming towards them, weaving her way through the tall grass, her whistling getting louder and louder.

  The girl stopped a few feet from them and blew a giant pink bubble out of a mouth bulging with gum. It popped then wilted, momentarily hanging and sticking to her chin, before she noisily sucked it back in.

  “Hey,” she said brightly.

  Lucy and Colin shot each other a sideways look.

  “Whatcha doin’?” she asked.

  “Uh…” Colin started.

  “Not much,” Lucy finished. She tried to guess the girl’s age. Twelve? Thirteen? Would a thirteen-year-old dress up like Princess Leia? In public? Would a twelve-year-old?

  The girl stood there, chomping on her gum. “I saw you guys from the road. Thought I’d check you out.”

  Colin and Lucy nodded in unison. There was a stretch of silence as they watched her blow, pop, and suck, over and over. It was hypnotic.

  Lucy came out of the trance first. The stretch of silence was getting longer. “I’m Lucy. This is Colin,” she said, half expecting the girl to introduce herself as Princess Leia.

  The girl’s eyes narrowed, like she knew what Lucy was thinking. “Kit. The name’s Kit.”

  “Kit, huh?” Colin repeated thoughtfully. “Like Kit Kat? You know, the chocolate bar?”

  Lucy jerked her head and glared at him. Was he out of his mind? What was he doing starting a conversation?

  “Yeah. I know what a Kit Kat is,” the girl replied. “And no, I’m not named after a chocolate bar.”

  “Oh. Okay.” Colin looked disappointed.

&nbs
p; “If you must know,” the girl said, putting her hands on her hips, “as an infant, I was left on the front steps of the county orphanage. When they found me, I was in a giant knapsack—you know, like a kit bag? You do know what a kit bag is, don’t you?” She waited for them to answer. Speechless, all they could do was nod. “Anyhow, the people there named me Kit, which is much nicer than Knap, don’t you think?”

  Lucy could only stare back with her mouth open.

  Colin seemed to be searching for the right words. “Sure, yeah, sorry, I guess?”

  “No biggie,” the girl said casually. She smiled and blew another bubble.

  Colin frowned. “Wait a second…that’s not a true story, is it?”

  “Nah,” she said. “I’m just messin’ with ya. But it’s a good one, isn’t it? Shock value and all that?” She didn’t wait for them to answer this time. “Well, I’m off to the coop. Things to do.”

  “You’re going to the store? Dressed like that?” Colin asked.

  “Yeah.” Kit shrugged. “Most of the locals think I’m a bit out there. Might as well not let them down.”

  Lucy nodded again, because she still couldn’t think of anything to say.

  “I don’t care what they think,” Kit continued. “I’m going to be a famous actress someday. I’m blowin’ this popsicle stand as soon as I get the chance. Well. See ya!” She tightened her skipping rope, and off she went.

  Lucy and Colin watched her go, her white sheet billowing behind her.

  “‘Popsicle stand’?” Lucy echoed. They looked at each other and burst out laughing.

  Colin finally pulled himself together. “Welcome to Crazytown. Population: one.”

  “Oh my gosh,” Lucy gasped, running her fingers under her eyes.

  “Do you think that was even her name?”

  “No idea. You’ve never seen her before?”

  Colin shook his head. “Uh-uh.”

  “And what’s the coop?” Lucy asked, picturing a cage full of chickens. Maybe she was going to get eggs?

  “The Co-op. Mom calls it that too.”

  Lucy thought for a second. “Ha. I like that. That’s funny.” She sat back down at the edge of the hole and unwrapped another sucker. “Guess my dad didn’t think it was important to mention there was a looney bin up here.”

  Lucy climbed the stairs from the beach, clutching a handful of glass. She had woken up early that morning and couldn’t get back to sleep. Yesterday afternoon she’d stayed in the water too long, stretched across the air mattress, using her goggles to spy on a family of hermit crabs—at least they’d looked like a family to her. She’d had no suntan lotion on and now she was paying for it, her stinging shoulders and back making it impossible to lie in bed.

  When she got to the hole, she knelt down on the grass and lined up her eleven pieces of glass on a flat rock. Two were blue. She was happy about that. What now? She sighed and looked off in the direction of Colin’s house. He was going to be late today. His mom was on his case. She’d told him he could dig his way to China for all she cared, but he still had to do his chores. She wanted the place unpacked and in tiptop shape before his dad arrived.

  Mistakenly, Lucy had assumed Colin’s dad was here—just off working. But apparently he was a chef at some big resort out west. The move had happened so fast, he’d stayed behind to wrap things up with the sale of the house and train his work replacement.

  Lucy still hadn’t met Colin’s mom. She kept hoping Colin would invite her over, she’d even hinted at it a couple times, but considering he and his mom were barely speaking, it probably wasn’t going to happen any time soon. She’d just have to wait for Josie and the dreaded “basket of homemade goodies” drop-off.

  Something landed on the ground not far from her leg. She frowned. A rock. She jumped up and looked across the field. Colin. “Did you just throw a rock at me?” she shouted.

  “I didn’t aim for you!”

  “Yeah, right!”

  “If I had,” he said as he reached the hole, “you’d be screaming in pain by now.”

  “Hmph.” Lucy doubted he was as great an aim as he thought he was. “Get all your stuff done?”

  “Done enough,” he replied. “Dad called and all hell broke loose, everyone grabbing for the phone so they could talk to him. Teddy pushed Hannah off the kitchen stool and she smacked her head on the door frame.”

  “Ouch. Was she hurt?”

  “Well, you’d think by the way she was screaming she’d been decapitated.”

  “She’d hardly be able to scream if she’d been decapitated.”

  Colin gave her a fake smile as he pulled his shovel from a pile of dirt. “Thanks, detective. Anyhow, made a break for it while everyone was crying. Oh, and all this happening while Dad’s on the phone—long distance. Cha-ching. I wouldn’t blame him if he put off coming for as long as possible.”

  She could hear it in his voice. He missed his dad.

  “We should have all just stayed until the house sold,” he said. “I mean, I don’t know what Mom’s big rush to get here was all about. If this place is so great, why’d she boot it out of here five minutes after she finished high school?”

  Not sure if she was supposed to answer, Lucy swatted at some imaginary flies.

  “And why am I the only one who’s pissed off?” he went on. “No one else seems bothered at all. They just let her off the hook, happy as clams.”

  “Things will probably be better once your dad gets here,” Lucy said. “Things will start to feel more normal then.”

  “Maybe.” He sounded doubtful and gazed off at something over her shoulder. “Hey. Get a load of that.”

  “What?” Her first thought was it was that Princess Leia kid again. She spun around then laughed with relief. “It’s just Josie.”

  “But what’s she got on?”

  “Oh. That.” Josie had obviously finished her black-and-white optical illusion dress and couldn’t wait to wear it. The pattern was all swirls and zig-zags. “I wouldn’t stare at it too long; you might get a headache.”

  Josie reached them, panting, a cigarette nestled in the corner of her mouth. “I want you to finish up here soon,” she told Lucy, then she turned to Colin. “Hello, Colin. Nice to meet you. I’m Josie. A friend of your mom’s. Known her since she was a little hellion.” She nudged him with her elbow and winked. “Whoops. I mean since she was a little girl.”

  “Hello,” he said, looking a little awestruck.

  “How’s your mom making out?” Josie asked. “She must be dead on her feet. Hope you’re being a good boy and helping her out.”

  He nodded.

  “Yeah right,” Lucy mouthed at Colin just out of Josie’s view.

  “Tell her we’ll pop by sometime next week. I’ll bring a batch of my famous muffins,” Josie said with another wink.

  Lucy touched Josie’s arm. “Do I have to leave right now?”

  “Yup.”

  “Why?”

  “Your Aunt Ellen came by. She’s invited us over.”

  “Oh.” Lucy felt her stomach twist into a knot.

  “You’ve got a bunch of relatives you couldn’t pick out of a police lineup,” Josie said sternly, as if it were all Lucy’s fault.

  “Fine.” Lucy sighed and held up a finger. “I’ll be up in one minute.”

  “Don’t dilly-dally.” Josie turned and headed back to the house.

  Colin shook his head. “It’s really something, isn’t it? The way she reads lips. I’d never know she was deaf.”

  “I still forget sometimes.”

  “And how does she get that cigarette to stay like that even when she’s talking? Did you see it bouncing around there? It’s like it’s glued on or something.”

  “Yes. She’s very talented.”

  “And I thought you were going to push for homemade
bread. How come we’re getting muffins?”

  Lucy spread her hands. “I tried! She insists on muffins. She says they’re famous!”

  “For what?”

  “I don’t know. But unfortunately, I think you’re about to find out.”

  Colin made a face like he had indigestion.

  “I’ll try again,” Lucy offered. “But I can’t make any promises.”

  “Try hard,” he said, sounding super serious. Then, “So, who’s Ellen?”

  “Oh. My aunt. My mom’s sister.”

  “What’s the big deal? How come you don’t know her?”

  “There was some kind of dustup between her and my mom.” Lucy shrugged. “It was before I was born. They didn’t speak. Whenever I asked her what happened, she said she didn’t want to talk about it.”

  “Weird. What does Josie say?”

  “I tried asking her once, but we got interrupted.” Lucy remembered Josie’s mob of bridge ladies and how they almost crushed her at the funeral home. “She did manage to say that they both needed a good kick in the arse, but that’s all I got.”

  The corner of Colin’s mouth twitched, probably at the arse comment.

  “And I didn’t want to ask her again,” she continued, “because I didn’t want to remind her about Ellen, because she’s all hell bent on me meeting her and I don’t want to. But as you can see that didn’t work. If only,” Lucy looked thoughtfully up at the sky, “there was someone else to ask.”

  Colin seemed to be thinking. She crossed her fingers on one hand and waited for him to connect the dots, say something like, “Hey, your mom and my mom were friends. She might know what happened.”

  But instead he asked, “What about your dad?”

  “He said he didn’t know.” She bit down on her lower lip. She used to think her dad would never lie to her, but then she’d caught him in that lie on the phone. “Maybe he was just going along with Mom, though.”

  Colin nodded.

  Kneeling down, she gathered up her beach glass. “I’d better go.”

  “Yeah.” Colin stared into the hole. “At least now I can get serious. I got no digging done this morning.”