Chapter 4

A Chapter by Lanie Nickel

I scratched my fork on the plate absentmindedly, making swirls in the syrup. Mom sat up suddenly beside me, pushing her half-eaten waffles away from her, and wiped her mouth. Grandma looked up, "Ready so soon?"

Mom sighed and her shoulders sank, "We have a meeting with the lawyer for dinner. I need to get there in time."

Grandma nodded sadly and walked Mom to the door. I trailed behind, watching Ophelia hiss at Grandma's cat, Brick. Brick whapped her on the face with his paw before stalking away.

Mom stood on the top step of the porch and slapped her hands against her thighs awkwardly, "Well, bye Roger...I'll see you when this all settles down."

I just stared at her. What did she want me to say? I'm so glad I was left with Grandma, who I barely know, while you and Dad divorce. Not likely.

Mom gave me a sharp nod before pivoting on her heel and climbed back into her car. Without another backward glance, Mom took off, the sound of the tires on bricks disappearing into the distance.

Grandma turned to me, "Do you want the rest of your breakfast?"

I shrugged my shoulders. Grandma waved her hand, "You know what, it's probably cold anyway. I'll just clear everything up."

She turned around, her shoulders hunched a little, and walked back into the house. I stared after her for a moment before looking back at the empty street. The kid from next door was standing there, bent over, inspecting a brick, a backpack swinging from one shoulder. He looked up suddenly and caught me watching him. He grinned and practically skipped over, "Hey! So you're Mrs. Parsons's grandkid? Wow that's great! I didn't know Caroline had a brother! Where is she?"

He tried to look over my shoulder as if she was hiding behind me. I looked down at my feet and stuck my hands in my pockets, "She's not here."

"Oh...wait, you haven't come to town before have you? I bet you need someone to hang out with you!" the kid's momentary look of disappointment was replaced with glee. He grabbed my arm and dragged me down the steps.

"So I like to make videos and post them on YouTube. Most of them are pretty stupid, but they're fun to make. I don't get many views though."

I remained silent, not sure what to say. The kid walked down the sidewalk, keeping a firm grip on my sleeve, "When I'm not doing that, I'll read a bit. Recently, I'd decided to paint the street."

I looked over at street. It looked like a brick ocean, more wave then flat. I frowned, "A painting on that."

The kid shrugged, "Well I wasn't going to make a painting on there, just change the color. But apparently it's really old. Mom told me she'd murder me if I 'defaced' it. Still would've look better green..."

For a blessed moment the kid was silent. Then he turned to me, "So what do you want to do?"

"Nothing."

"Hey! Let's go to the park! It's only a few blocks away!"

I reluctantly followed the kid as he bounced down the sidewalk, chatting away about how this family had moved and that family was on vacation and that family never left. I mainly ignored him and looked at the trees. Caroline always liked to climb trees. Once she'd nearly broken her neck when �"

"Beatrice! I didn't know you were back!"

I looked around to see a girl in jeans and a baggy t-shirt, her brown hair trying to escape the floppy bun on her head. Beatrice shrugged apologetically, "I just got back. I was about to go and look for you."

She turned and frowned in my direction, "Who's this?"

The kid practically jumped into the air with excitement, "This is Mrs. Parsons's grandkid!"

Beatrice looked confused, "But I thought Caroline was Mrs. Parsons's grandkid."

"The other grandkid. Caroline's brother."

Beatrice nodded and turned her attention to the kid's face, "So, Dylan, I bought you a couple mysteries while I was on vacation. They're in the house."

The kid, Dylan, smiled so hard I thought his face would crack, "That's great! How about you give it to me later? Do you want to the park?"

"Sure."

It was amazing. Dylan actually stopped talking long enough to listen to Beatrice. They jabbered away about some book series and whether or not the main character got his memory back in the end after being resurrected. Beatrice was arguing in a loud voice, "But Holly explained it all. That's bound to �""

Dylan covered her mouth with his hand. Beatrice whapped him on the head, but followed him as he ducked behind some bushes in front of a porch. I looked around, wondering what was going on. Beatrice grabbed my arm and dragged me behind the bush, "Shh!"

Dylan had slipped open his backpack and was rifling through it. He pulled out a different camera than the day before, this one looking a lot more expensive.

I frowned, "Hey what�""

Beatrice glared at me and I shut up. Dylan shifted the bushes branches enough so that the video camera could see out. I squinted at the screen, trying to see what he was recording. On it, a couple were making out on the sidewalk. After a few seconds, the guy dragged the girl across the front lawn, behind the house. Dylan stopped the video. He smirked down at it, "Gotcha! You are in so much trouble now."

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