Fort Lupton (21 page)

“
You’re sure it’s on the
up-and-up?” Jacob asked.

“
It’s only possible
because Lipson Construction no longer does government work.”
Valerie cleared her throat with a loud “ahem.” “It’s perfectly
legal for two private entities to work together to get a worthwhile
project done.”

“
Hmm,” Jacob
said.

“
Did anyone at Lipson
protest?” Valerie asked. She batted her eyes to relay her pure
nature. Jacob laughed. “Well?”

“
No,” Jacob said. “Nor
would they, since their kids get to go here basically for
free.”

“
Exactly.” Valerie
beamed.

Jason and Pete joined them to watch. The
truck turned the tight corner into the site and stopped at the
entrance. Jacob started toward the entrance, but Pete and Jason
beat him to it. They moved the chain link fence on either side to
make enough space.

Jacob and Valerie held their breath as the
truck rolled over the cement curb and into the jobsite. Aden pulled
up just as the house crept over the curb. He parked on the street
and ran to Valerie and Jacob. They stood in awe as the historic
home passed a foot in front of them. Towering three stories, the
ancient structure had once been home to the serial killer Saint
Jude. They looked up at the windows

“
Wow,” Aden
said.

Jacob nodded. He waved to the female ghost
looking at him from the third-story window.

“
Ghost?” Aden asked. He
waved to be friendly.

“
Why didn’t you send her
on?” Valerie asked.

“
Seemed kind of mean after
she told me what was going to happen to Noelle,” Jacob
said.

“
That’s right,” Valerie
said. “You met her when you were being a big baby.”

Jacob’s eyes slid over to look at her. He
was about to say something cruel, but Valerie’s face was lit up
with delight in the gorgeous building.

“
You sure you can rehab
this?” Valerie asked.

“
With Jill’s help,” Jacob
said. “It’s a lot, but . . .”

“
With the right people,
anything’s easy,” Valerie and Jacob repeated in unison what their
mother used to say.

The truck came to a stop near the edge of
the property. Because Lipson Construction owned the truck, the plan
was to leave the house on its bed until the foundation made it
through inspection. Jacob nodded toward the street where the
building inspector was standing.

“
Let him in,” Jacob said
into the walkie-talkie mic.

Jason opened the gate for the inspector.
Cheering, the sign team came back into the site. Jason closed the
gate. He shook the inspector’s hand, and they walked toward
Jacob.

“
I just can’t believe it,”
Valerie said under her breath.

“
What?” Jacob
asked.

“
It all worked out,”
Valerie said. “What are you going to do with the money?”

“
Ease some of the pressure
at home,” Jacob said. “Rehire Rosa to clean. The kids have been
great, but I really can’t deal with . . . Never
mind.”

“
Toilets,” Valerie said.
“My baby brother hates dirty toilets.”

“
Hmm.” Jacob scowled. She
nudged his shoulder and he laughed.

“
Sandy said they’ll keep
their chores,” Valerie said.

“
And that’s great,” Jacob
said.

“
At least the toilets will
be clean,” Valerie said.

“
At least Charlie won’t
have to work to pay our food bill,” Jacob said. “We won’t have the
kind of money we had before, but we won’t be flat broke like we’ve
been.”

Valerie nodded.

“
Jacob Marlowe!” the
inspector said. “I didn’t realize you were involved in
this!”

“
The school is owned by my
father’s construction company,” Jacob said.

“
You mean the one that’s
employee-owned?” the inspector asked.

Jacob nodded.

“
I’d like to get in on
that!” the inspector started, then noticed Valerie for the first
time. He flushed and looked down.

“
Hi, I’m Val,” she
said.

“
Howard,” the man
mumbled.

He glanced at Aden and gave him a nod.

“
What about this
foundation?” the inspector asked. “You know I
need . . .”

“
We have all of that ready
for you,” Pete said. “If you’ll follow me.”

Steadily avoiding looking at Valerie, the
inspector nodded to Jacob and followed Pete toward the trailer.

“
I just can’t believe it.”
Valerie beamed.

Jacob and Aden laughed.

A whole lot of
hate

Friday afternoon — 1:45 p.m.

“
Where is my phone?”
Jeraine yelled from the basement.

Tanesha looked up from her book. Fin
gestured to the basement. She shook her head and went back to
reading.

“
Where is my
phone!
?” Jeraine’s voice
moved around the basement.

“
Should we help him?” Fin
asked. “I can . . .”

Fin turned his hand over, and Jeraine’s
phone appeared in his palm.

“
No,” Tanesha said. “Put
that back.”

“
But . . .”

“
He’s not talking to us,”
Tanesha said. “He went to brain therapy this morning. He has a
headache.”

“
More reason to help him,”
Fin said.

“
He doesn’t know he’s
talking out loud,” Tanesha said. “If you give him his phone, he’ll
realize he’s acting a fool again. It’s horrible to watch. He just
caves on the inside.”

Fin nodded. The phone disappeared.

“
Plus, he should ask if he
wants help,” Tanesha said.

Fin looked at Tanesha. Feeling his eyes, she
said, “What?”

“
Doesn’t he always need
help?” Fin asked.

Tanesha chuckled and went back to her book.
A few minutes later, Jeraine stomped up the stairs. He saw them
studying at the dining room table and stopped at the top of the
stairs. Unsure of what to do, he looked down toward the
basement.

“
Hey,” Fin said. He made
the phone appear. “This yours?”

“
Yeah,” Jeraine said. He
walked over to them. “Where’d you find it?”

“
Here on the table,”
Tanesha said. “Fin has the same phone. He thought yours was
his.”

“
Sorry, man,” Fin
said.

Jeraine took the phone from Fin and peered
into its face.

“
I hate this phone,”
Jeraine said. “Hate, hate, hate it.”

“
Why?” Fin
asked.

“
Why what?” Jeraine
asked.

Tanesha looked up at Jeraine. Her eyes
flicked to Fin.

“
You’re thinking out
loud,” Tanesha said.

Jeraine squinted at her.

“
Head hurt?” Tanesha
asked.

“
Bad,” Jeraine said. “But
I’ve gotta . . .”

Tanesha shook her head.

“
But . . .”
Jeraine started.

“
Come on.” Tanesha closed
her book and stood up. To Fin, she said, “I’ll be right
back.”

Tanesha took Jeraine’s arm and walked with
him to the stairs to their bedroom. Jeraine looked confused. He
looked back at Fin.

“
What about studying?”
Jeraine asked.

“
We have class soon,”
Tanesha said. “This was just a short study session,
remember?”

Jeraine rubbed his forehead. She nodded up
the stairs and Jeraine went. Every step up he repeated the word,
“Sorry.”

At the top of the stairs, she led him to the
bed.

“
You
wanna . . .?” Jeraine’s voice slurred, and she
smiled.

“
Why don’t you take a
nap?” Tanesha asked. “I have school. I’ll be back around six. We’re
going to Mom’s to hang out with Jabari.”

“
Jabari!” Jeraine stood
straighter. “I’ve gotta . . .”

“
Sleep,” Tanesha
said.

“
But . . .”

“
Jabari needs you rested,”
Tanesha said.

She helped him sit on the side of their bed.
She went into their bathroom for his medication.

“
I’m gonna lose him,”
Jeraine said. “Too stupid. Gonna lose him. Too sick. Gonna lose
him.”

Tanesha grabbed Jeraine’s medication, a
glass of water, and went back into their bedroom. When he saw her,
he stopped talking.

“
You’re not going to lose
him,” Tanesha said. “It’s not going to happen.”

“
But . . .”
Jeraine said.

Tanesha gave him his inhaler, which he used.
She took the inhaler and gave him the pills in her hand. She gave
him a glass of water and waited until he took the medication.

“
You have a headache,”
Tanesha said.

“
My head hurts,” Jeraine
said.

Tanesha helped him take off his shoes and
get settled on the bed.

“
You think I’m gonna lose
him?” Jeraine asked.

“
I don’t,” Tanesha
said.

“
You think I’m gonna lose
you?”

“
You stick to our
agreement?” Tanesha asked.

Jeraine nodded.

“
Then everything’s fine,”
Tanesha said. “Sleep for a couple hours. Aunt Phy’s coming over to
watch her shows. She’ll just be downstairs until I get back. We’ll
go to Mom’s for dinner and hang out with Jabari.”

“
Jabari went to school
today,” Jeraine said.

“
He’s trying it out for
few hours,” Tanesha said.

“
Jabari . . .”

Jeraine stopped talking. Tanesha leaned over
to see if he was asleep. His eyes were open. They flicked over to
her. She grinned at him and he smiled. He was returning to himself
as the meds started kicking in.

“
I’m going to sleep for a
while,” Jeraine said. “But I have to tell you that I hate my
phone.”

“
Okay,” Tanesha said.
“Let’s get you another one.”

“
Can’t I get somebody to
carry it?” Jeraine asked.

“
You mean you don’t hate
the phone,” Tanesha laughed, “you hate having to carry it
yourself?”

“
Exactly,” Jeraine
said.

Tanesha laughed.

“
I’m going to school,”
Tanesha said. “Don’t hire anyone until I get back.”

“’
K, I’ll be right here,”
Jeraine said.

She waited another minute, and Jeraine was
asleep. Smiling to herself, she started out toward the stairs.

“
A sexy bikini-clad phone
holder,” Jeraine said.

“
What?” Tanesha spun in
place, but he was sound asleep. Shaking her head, she went down the
stairs.

“
He wants a sexy
bikini-clad woman to hold his phone,” Tanesha said to Fin, who
smiled.

She packed her books into her backpack. They
were just about to leave when Tanesha’s crazy Aunt Phy tapped on
the door.

“
How is he?” Aunt Phy
asked Tanesha.

Always a fan of colorful clothing, Aunt Phy
wore a wide broom skirt with bright flowers all over it, weathered
cowboy boots that were once bright yellow, and a fuchsia top.
Tanesha hugged the elderly woman.

“
Not great,” Tanesha said.
“Thank you for this.”

“
I just love my shows,”
Aunt Phy said.

Aunt Phy batted her eyes as if there was
nothing else going on. Tanesha knew full well that Aunt Phy could
watch her shows at home. Aunt Phy spotted Fin standing near the
table.

“
Good afternoon, Prince
Finegal.”

“
Phynophyles,” Fin
said.

To Tanesha’s amazement, Aunt Phy gave a
slight bow, which Fin returned.

“
Go on,” Aunt Phy said,
returning to her crazy self. “I’ve got this.”

“
Thank you,” Tanesha
said.

They left the house. Fin opened her door to
his car. She got in and he went around to the driver’s seat.

“
Phynophyles?” Tanesha
asked.

“
It is her name,” Fin
said.

“
But . . .”

“
Your grandmother’s lover
happens to be a fairy,” Fin said.

“
My grandmother’s
what
?” Tanesha
sputtered.

Fin laughed and started the car. While
Tanesha thought things through, he drove out of the
neighborhood.

“
Jeraine is struggling,”
Fin said when she’d settled down.

“
It’s the pressure,”
Tanesha said. “He’s doing all his therapy and the writing and the
studio work and us and Jabari. It’s too much for his brain right
now.”

“
Seems tough on you,” Fin
said.

“
As long as he’s trying,
keeping to our agreements,” Tanesha nodded, “I’m okay with
tough.”

They drove in silence for a few minutes.

“
Are you going to tell
him?” Fin asked.

“
About Jabari?” Tanesha
asked. “Not yet. Got to wait until he’s all there.”

Fin nodded.

“
But you’re going to tell
him, right?” Fin asked.