Page 22 of Property of Max
I don’t know what I’m going to do, but Idoknow one thing. I won’t be back in the morning.
***
“Mama, where are we going?” Bree asks, her chin propped on the back of the seat.
“To see a friend,” I say, keeping my voice steady, emotion tucked away where she won’t hear it.
“What friend?” she presses. “Today’s Funday Friday. We’re supposed to take Uncle Micah someplace fun, remember?”
Fridays are our day. No matter how tired I am, no matter how tight the budget gets, I make sure we go somewhere…anywhere…so Micah can see more than the four walls of our apartment or the edges of his bed. Even if it’s just the park. Even if it’s the zoo once in a while. It matters. He deserves a piece of the world.
“Can we go to the beach?” Bree asks, her voice bubbling with hope.
I laugh softly. “We live in the desert, honey. No beaches here.”
“Only dirt… mountains,”Micah’s device says in its flat, mechanical tone.
I grin and nod. “Exactly.”
“Snow angels?” Bree teases, grinning at her uncle.
“Only on the mountains,” I say, shaking my head but loving the way she keeps trying.
“Dust devils,”Micah adds, his eyes flicking down and back up to signal the choice.
“Ihatethose things,” Bree groans. “One time, one just appeared right next to me and got sand and dirt all in my hair. Oh! Uncle Micah, remember when that dust devil made a little water tornado in the neighbor’s pool? That was pretty cool.”
…
“Almost died.”
“Oh, you did not,” I laugh. “The devil just dropped a little water on your head. You needed a shower anyway, you stinky teenager.”
Micah’s eyes gleam, and even though he can’t laugh, I can see it…the same spark that used to keep us both afloat. And for a heartbeat, the heaviness pressing on me lifts.
Pulling up to my best friend’s house, I shift into park and turn to my kids.
“I need to go talk to Cody,” I tell them. “I won’t be long. If there’s an emergency, just honk the horn. And Micah, don’t be out here telling your niece scary stories again. If she has a nightmare in the middle of the night, you’ll be the one staying up with her.”
Micah’s eyes light up, and Bree is already unbuckling, sliding down to sit cross-legged on the floor by his feet.
“Ihopeit’s a super scary one this time,” she says, grinning. “Then we can stay up all night, and you can teach me how to play chess.”
“Rotten,” I mutter, shaking my head as I climb out of the van. “The both of you.”
Behind me, his device crackles to life:“Once upon a time, there was a little girl who always got into trouble…”
I close the door, smiling despite myself. Micah spends hours writing new stories, programming them into his machine just for her. He can’t hold her hand, can’t chase her through the yard, but he gives her adventures anyway. He’s the best uncle she could ever have. The best brother I could ask for.
“Woman, what in the world are you doing here on Funday Friday?” Cody says, grinning as he pulls me into a hug. “You look like hell.”
“Gee, thanks,” I mutter, stepping past him into the house. Exhaustion clings to me like a second skin, but I try to shrug it off. “I need advice.”
“Name it, sister.”
“My boss is an ass.”
“Yeah, I know that already,” Cody says with a frown. “What happened?”
