Once my arm was fully asleep and my shoulder was aching, I decided it was time to take Juli inside. I gently rolled her off of me and freed myself from her limp grip. She looked so peaceful like this; peaceful, and beautiful. Like the pain she had felt earlier could not exist in her while she dreamed. I sat up and shook out my dead arm, rolling my shoulder. It prickled as the blood rushed back into it. I looked over the yard. I thought I should probably worry about Juli's chickens first, because I figured it was safe to say that she would never speak to me again if any of them got hurt.
I stood and crossed the yard, not bothering with the gate as I clambered over the low fence. The birds clucked about, moving with slow, stupid leisure. I strode over to the first one and tried shooing it into the coop it ran and skawked, darting under the little ramp instead of up it. I bent and reached for it, but it skuttled itself over a tire, and flapped its wings as it ran away. A second chicken charged me, squawking, and I tried to grab it, but it ducked and bit me.
"Ow! Damn it!" Now I was mad. How the hell was I supposed to coral birds, man? I glared at the retreating bird as I inspected my hand, the bite bleeding a little between my index and thumb. Gross. I snatched the bird off the ground as it ran and held on as it kicked and flapped, squawking.
Somehow, I managed to gather all six of Juli's chickens without waking Juli and without killing any birds. But let me tell you, my friend, I don't recommend it. They should call it a wild chicken chase instead of a wild goose chase. Once I knew the birds were safe, I opened the gate splitting the yard and propped it open with a bunny shaped lawn statue that had been up against the house, one of it's ears broken off.
Gently, I guided Juli's arms around my neck and lifted her bridal style, carrying her to the back door. I had to kick the door to get Mrs. Baker's attention, but she opened it for me with an only slightly hostile glare and a frown.
Mrs. Baker led me down the hall to Juli's bedroom, and I placed her on her bed. I went to take her shoes off, but Mrs. Baker gasped and stopped me, looking scandalized. "I'll do that. You go home now, young man."
Yep, I got 'young man'-ed. I think it was safe to say that Mrs. Baker would never be my biggest fan. Or even my smallest. If I were being honest though, I'd also have to admit that she did have some ground to stand on. I mean, I ignored her daughter for years, then only recently decided I liked her; right about the time that Juli realized I was actually a complete melvin and not worth her left shoe. I'd basically sent Juli on a rollercoaster of stress with no seatbelt or guardrail for this entire school year. Any mom would hate to see her kid treated like that. Plus, I'm pretty sure she could see us making out in her backyard through her kitchen window. So I went home without argument.
***
Juli didn't come back to school that week. I tried knocking on their door, but her family members would answer and say they were busy or that she was sleeping or something. Once, a lady I didn't recognize came to the door and told me she was Juli's aunt and said that Juli had gone out with her mother and wouldn't be home for a few hours.
I knew Juli wasn't actively avoiding me-- this time. She just needed time to grieve. But I missed her, man. I missed her, and it was crazy to me that five months ago I had been indifferent to her existence. Now she was the only person I thought about anymore.
On Friday morning at breakfast, Grandpa asked me if I wanted to attend Daniel's funeral with him.
"He can't, he's got that big Grad Dance that night." My mother told him cheerfully as she sawed through a watermelon on the counter. She had to balance on her tip toes even with her heals on to get a good angle. The knife made a last forward cut, and the two halves of the melon fell and rocked back and forth on the cutting board before she turned them both over so that the flat side was down.
