Chapter Eight

The summer was almost over. Where had it all gone? There was only a week left.

“I think were done, Kathryn. Completely, actually done.”

Henry’s words startled me out of my thoughts. “Really? We’re done?”

“Well, we could go over it again if you want, but I think that everything is finally perfect.” He was smiling widely.

I shook my head. “No, you’re right. I can’t think of any way to make it better than it already is.”

His smile widened, if that was possible. “I’m glad you think so. I’ll set up some dates and we’ll send it in to KAXE.”

I smiled back. “Excellent. Call me when that’s ready, will you?”

“Will do. I expect you want to go now, don’t you?”

I nodded. “Yeah, I have to get home.”

His brow furrowed. “Actual home?” I had told him about my not wanting to be with my family all that much. He understood most of it, but there were some things I just couldn’t tell him, so he was a bit confused most of the time.

“Yep. Actual home. I’m working for Mrs. Sylvia today,” I replied, packing my things up.

Henry nodded. “Very well. Just let me know if you need anything, okay?”

Sighing, I nodded. Adults had other rules besides the always-call-by-full name rule. There was also the make-sure-they-come-to-me-with-their-problems and make-it-so-that-they-feel-awkward rules. It’s not that Henry wasn’t like my own grandfather after a few months, but sometimes he was just a bit too caring.

Turning to leave, something caught my eye. Henry was rubbing his hand more than usual, and his movements were more stiff than before. “Henry, are you okay?”

“What? Oh, yes, I’m perfectly fine. My arthritis is just bothering me more. Nothing to worry about, Kathryn.”

I set my case down. “Is too something to worry about. You’re working too hard for your age. You need to slow down a bit.”

Henry sighed. “Kathryn, as much as I love you and I understand where you’re coming from, I don’t need another person telling me to slow down. This is the only thing that’s keeping me going, and no one is going to take this away from me.”

“But-”

“No buts, Kathryn.” He looked at me, his eyes level. “I don’t care what happens to me. People need to know what we’re doing to this planet.”

I nodded. “But just because you’re telling me not to, that doesn’t mean I won’t worry about you.”

His eyes softened. “I know, Kathryn. I know.”

I sighed. “Well, I’ll see you later then, I guess.”

“Good-bye, Kathryn. I shall call you’re cell phone.” He made a face, and I laughed as I turned and actually left this time. Henry and his old man quirks.

My walk home was a nice one. It was more than a mile, but it was a nice day and my case wasn’t heavy anymore, even though I had sheet music in it. While I walked I thought about global warming and everything that I had learned. For starters, global warming was doubling the rate of ocean water rising, and I guessed that if it kept up it wouldn’t take very long for coastal cities to be completely drowned. Also, global warming caused the surface temperatures of the oceans to rise, causing coral bleaching, which in short made coral reefs give up their nourishing algae and turn white. Unless the water temperatures cooled, the coral reefs died. It didn’t help, either, that warmer waters can carry more diseases that hurt sea creatures.

That train of thought kept me going all fourteen blocks, even all the way up the stairs to my door. But as soon as I saw our apartment number I stopped. Stress overload time.

Putting my key in the door and turning it, I walked into my home for the first time in a month. “I’m back!” I called, not waiting for an answer. I went straight to my room and set my violin down, then I called, “I’m going to work! I’ll be back in a couple of hours!” I wasn’t sure if that was true, but I doubted that either of my parents were conscious enough to hear me. Walking out of the apartment, I walked over to Mrs. Sylvia’s.

“Kathryn! Just in time. Can you take my cookies out of the oven for me? That’s a dear. You can help yourself to one when they cool. Free of charge.” The old woman smiled at me, and I smiled back.

She sighed. “It’s good to see you again. How are things?”

“Well, Henry and I finished that program today.”

“Really? Good for you? Did you get paid to do it?” she asked, sitting in her chair, knitting, looking like the common stereotype in her green sweater and brown slacks with special orthopedic shoes.

I shook my head. “No, Mrs. Sylvia, it was just for fun. Henry and I had a good time doing it, and we’re recording it and sending it in to KAXE later.”

“Marvelous! Marvelous marvelous. Tell me, dear, how is your brother?”

“He’s busy with school things. I’m not sure what. We barely got a chance to talk while he was here, and he’s already back.” That’s what bugged me the most. Brad and I used to be able to talk about everything. What had happened?

“Kathryn, you don’t have to do any cleaning today. I find that you did such a fantastic job last time that the only thing that had to be done was the dishes, and I did that myself. We can just talk today, about anything you like.”

“I don’t really care what we talk about, Mrs. Sylvia. You can choose our topic of discussion.”

She chuckled, what for I don’t know. “Very well. Tell me, have you ever had a boyfriend?”

I colored. “No, Mrs. Sylvia. I’ve been too busy.”

“Oh, too busy! That’s foolishness. You’d be much happier if you found yourself a nice boy.”

“I doubt that a boy would make me happy, Mrs. Sylvia,” I replied quickly, my color deepening still.

She laughed at me. “Oh, look at you! Blushing over such a silly topic. If you do not want a boyfriend, nothing is going to make you get one no matter what a silly old friend says. There now, that discussion is over. Are you excited for school?”

I relaxed a bit. “Very, though I don’t know how I’ll be able to get all
of my supplies.”

“Oh, just walk over to Wal-Mart. You can buy notebooks for a dollar and you can use paper bags for book covers, and if you tape them right you don’t even need to buy a folder. There, that solves your problem very nicely, right?”

I wasn’t able to reply, because then we heard a crash and a shriek. From my apartment.

Reviews

[Looouise]

Keep going.
:]
I really like the idea of your story,
and how there's still a lot to keep the story going.
And how you keep Kathryn's life still shrouded in mystery.
It's great.