Promise (25 page)
Authors: Judy Young
“I can give my son a cell phone without your permission if I want,” Dad said defensively.
“I never said you couldn't,” Gram said.
“And I get the message, you know. All this about Luke and Elana and Kubla and strangers. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what you're trying to tell me.”
“Nobody's trying to tell you anything,” Kaden said. “I'm just talking about what went on at school and that's what went on. I tell Gram about my day, every day. Always have.”
“There you go again,” Dad said. “Just rubbing it in that I haven't been here.”
“I'm not trying to rub anything in,” Kaden said. “It's just the truth. That's what we've always done. Talked about our day at dinner.”
“You haven't been here,” Gram said, “and we're not going to pretend you have. Nor are we going to avoid every topic of conversation you might interpret as a personal insult. So face facts and move on. You were in prison. Now you're out. What happens from now on is up to you.”
Dad pushed his chair from the table. “I'm going for a drive,” he said, standing up.
“Sit back down for a second,” Gram demanded. “I have something else I want to say.”
Dad didn't leave but he didn't sit back down either. He stood behind his chair, his hand resting on the chair back.
“Getting things for Kaden is fine but there's no need to sneak around about it. Sneaking is for when you're doing something wrong.”
“If you're wondering about the phone, I didn't steal it,” Dad said. “I bought myself a phone and I put him on my plan. I could put you on so you could have a phone, too, if you want.”
“No, thank you,” Gram said.
“Have it your way,” Dad said. “I was just trying to be nice.”
“When I said no, thank you,” Gram said. “I meant just that. No, I have no need for a cell phone but thank you anyway.”
Kaden noticed how carefully Gram had chosen her words. She wasn't lying. She didn't say she didn't have a cell phone. She said she didn't need one. And she didn't. She already had one. But Kaden wasn't supposed to know that and evidently Dad didn't know Gram had one either. Kaden didn't say a word but wondered why Gram was being sneaky about her phone. All he could think of were Yo-Yo's words,
just in case
, and knew Gram still wasn't sure about how much to trust Dad.
Dad walked out. Gram left the cabin, too. Kaden listened through the kitchen window as he cleared the table. There was no talking. Dad started up the truck and drove away. Gram's glider squeaked as she started muttering to herself.
Kaden finished the dishes and stepped outside. “I've got homework,” he told Gram as he crossed the porch.
“It can wait,” Gram said. “Sit down here a minute.”
Kaden sat down on the glider beside Gram. She put her arm around his shoulders. Slowly they moved back and forth as dusk turned to night.
“Won't be long before it will be too cold to sit out here,” Gram said.
“It's only mid-September,” Kaden said. “We still have another whole week before fall officially begins.”
“A week may seem long to you but when you get older, years seem to fly by pretty fast. It seems like just yesterday your father was your age, sitting here beside me on this glider. I do love him, you know.”
They sat for a little longer, the glider moving rhythmically, until Gram spoke again.
“When your grandpa died, it was hard on your dad. He felt lost and lonely and everything made him angry. Including coming up here. He and I came that first summer but we only stayed a week. Emmett tried to help. You know, be a
friend, take him fishing and stuff. But your father seemed to resent Emmett was alive and his dad was dead. Your grandfather and Emmett were such very good friends, almost like brothers. And I think your dad was always a little jealous of Emmett. So your dad and I went back to Chapston City and never came back. At least not together. In high school, your dad got in with the wrong crowd and things just got worse. There wasn't anything I did that seemed to make a difference.” Gram let out a long sigh.
“How did Grandpa die?” Kaden asked. It was one of the things nobody ever talked about.
“In a car wreck coming back from fishing with Emmett. Your grandfather swerved to avoid a deer, went off the road, and hit a tree. Your grandpa died but Emmett walked away without a scratch.”
“Wow,” Kaden said. “I knew he and Grandpa were friends but Emmett never told me about that. That must have been awful for him.”
“It was,” Gram agreed. “For everybody.”
“Why hasn't anyone ever told me this?”
“I know there are a lot of things I've kept from you, Kaden. I just needed to wait until I thought you were ready.”
They were both quiet for a while as the creaking of the glider mixed with the sounds of evening insects.
“But it's no excuse,” Gram finally said.
“What isn't?” Kaden asked.
“That your father's dad died,” Gram said. “It's no excuse for doing wrong. Even when things are hard, you still have to be responsible and make the right decisions. For some reason, your dad didn't think the rules applied to him just because he had a hard go of it.”
They sat a while longer. A full moon rose, deep yellow, leaving long, crisscrossing shadows of tree branches across the yard and into the circle drive.
“Isn't that pretty?” Kaden said.
“Yes, it is,” Gram said. She paused, then spoke again. “I'm proud of you, Kaden. I know it's not easy on you but you're making good choices and you're being patient.”
Gram squeezed Kaden's shoulder and gave him a kiss on his forehead. She hadn't done that since first grade when he wasn't invited to Luke's party. “Now go do your homework,” she said.
When Kaden went into his cabin, the first thing he did was pull the photo album and notes out from under his mattress. He opened his desk drawer and put them in there. Things in a desk drawer were out of sight but it was a normal place to keep things. Under a mattress was sneaky. Then he sat down at the desk and opened his math book. He was almost done
with his homework when he heard Gram open the screen door and go inside.
“Good night, Gram,” he said.
“Good night, Kaden.”
Kaden heard Gram get a drink of water. Then her voice came over the intercom again. “Only one rule,” Gram said. “No calls after nine o'clock.”
Kaden looked at his clock. It was 9:35. “Okay,” he said.
Before eating breakfast, Kaden walked past Cabin Four and looked around the corner. Dad's truck was back but no ladder hung out over the tailgate. When the bus stopped at Emmett's, Doris went inside but Kaden walked behind the shop. The ladder was there, smashing down the weeds.
“Did you see Dad last night?” Kaden asked Emmett when he entered the kitchen.
“No, why?”
“Just curious. Thought he might have come by.”
“I doubt your dad's going to come around here much,” Emmett said but he didn't say why. Kaden thought he knew the reason but didn't say anything about what Gram told him last night either. Instead, he went over to the wall and looked
closely at the pictures. There were a lot of them with Emmett and Grandpa. They were always smiling or laughing.
When it was time to go, Kaden and Doris each grabbed a couple of doughnuts for the road and headed out the door. Emmett followed. “You and Yo-Yo still on for Saturday?”
“Yep,” Kaden said.
“Good. Tell Yo-Yo I'll pick him up around nine.”
“Sounds like a plan,” Kaden said, but on the way to school he came up with a better plan.
“Ask your mom if you can ride home on the bus with me tomorrow and spend the night. Emmett will take you home on Saturday,” Kaden told Yo-Yo as soon as he entered Ms. Ales's room.
“Great idea,” Yo-Yo said, dumping his backpack. He ran from the room and returned just as second bell rang.
“She said yes,” he said, sliding into his seat.
“Super,” Kaden said.
“Did you tell Gram?” Yo-Yo asked. Ms. Ales rang the brass bell for silence.
“No,” Kaden whispered over Yo-Yo's shoulder, “I'll tell her this afternoon, but I'm sure she won't care. She said you were welcome anytime, remember?”
“Not about spending the night,” Yo-Yo said. “About the cellâ”
Before Yo-Yo was able to finish his sentence, the announcements blared and all the students rose to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Yo-Yo didn't have a chance to ask about the phone again until lunch.
“So did you tell or not tell, that is the question,” Yo-Yo said as they sat down with their trays.
“Told,” Kaden said. “I don't relish the idea of suicide. You know Gram; she wouldn't just kill me outright, she'd work me to death.”
“So did she get mad? Is she letting you keep it? Will you actually get to talk on it?” Yo-Yo asked without a pause between questions.
“No, yes, and yes,” Kaden said, laughing.