Dirty Faces - Book 2

Chapter 6: Nuisances

Chapter 6: Nuisances

Adam was walking through the empty apartment one last time. It was all they were waiting on. Of course, not everything had fit in the back of Lilly, so most of it ended up packed in the back of Ralph's delivery truck, after rearranging the cargo, that is. It had taken longer than they had expected and they would be getting a late start on the trip.

It was cold outside and Kody knew he ought to be out there letting the engine warm up, but Ralph was out there doing likewise and he was pretty sure he was going to have to stop everything and go wash his ears out if they had to hear another filthy word from Ralph today. So instead, he stood here just inside the door with Mama and Ginny, waiting on Adam.

Adam never walked particularly fast; that crutch slowed him down a bit. He didn't want anybody to do anything for him or help him more than anyone else, but what he didn't know was that Kody was constantly reminding himself to slow his pace when he walked alongside Adam. Today, he seemed to be taking even more time than usual, standing in each room, staring at the dark places on the wallpaper where furniture or pictures had been, unmoved, for years.

Kody was ready to leave. He was already tired from loading the trucks and he wasn't getting any less tired standing around waiting. He jingled the change and contents of his pockets until he realized Mama was giving him a rather stern look. "If you're in such a hurry, son, you can go wait in the truck."

"What's taking him so long?" he whispered. "It's just a place. Somebody else'll be living here this time next week."

Mama's lips were a thin, hard line. "He can take as long as he needs. And we will wait. You can do so in here in the warm or out there in the cold, I don't care which. But you will wait."

He pursed his lips, took his hands out of his pockets, and crossed his arms. As far away from Ralph as possible was the best place to be; he would wait here. Mama picked at the tangles in Ginny's awful hair, and without looking at him, snapped, "Uncross your arms." He opened his mouth to protest but shut it before any sound came out. He put his hands safely behind his back because he wanted to knock that stifled grin off Ginny's face more than he wanted Adam to get the lead out.

When Adam finally hobbled into the kitchen, Mama asked if he was ready and he nodded. "Well, alright," she said, putting her arm around his shoulder and guiding him out the door. "Let's get going."

*****

It had been a long day and they were all tired. Adam hadn't said much of anything after they left; he'd just looked out the window until he dozed off. Kody wished Ginny would do the same. She just kept talking, chattering on about he didn't know what because he wasn't listening. And what was worse, he knew she was aware he wasn't listening and she didn't mind one bit because her ceaseless chatter was just an irritating effort to keep herself awake.

He didn't need to run his mouth to stay awake; he had plenty of things to think about that would keep him up. And Ginny was just like a loud, staticky radio station, keeping him from focusing on what it was he needed to focus on.

"Hey," he said, interrupting a particularly long-winded lament of her new-found dislike of potatoes.

"What?" she asked, startled to hear a voice other than her own.

"You have got to be getting sleepy."

"I'm fine. Besides, if I go to sleep, who'll keep you awake?"

"I'll manage."

"You loaded the trucks. And you're driving. You're way more tired than me. I don't mind staying awake. Now, what was I saying? Oh, yeah. Potatoes. If I never see another potato again, fried, baked, mashed-"