When Munch got to the trailer, Grandma Toady was in her recliner working on a quilt block. She had on her rainbow reader glasses, herr sharp eyes looked over their rim. “What are you doing here? Your mama said no.”
He wanted to shout, She changed her mind,but one did not shout at Grandma Toady. Instead he told her, “Your son convinced her to let me stay until he goes back to work on Monday.”
“Well, that was nice of him.”
Was it? He would have her all to himself tonight. Seemed kinda self serving to Munch but of course he didn’t say that either. He said, “If you will excuse me.”
There was a hint of tartness in her voice when she said, “Sure.”
All the stuff his mama let him get away with did not fly with Grandma Toady. If he were at home he would have slammed a door and stomped around. Not here. Quietly he went to the rummage room, tossed his backpack on the bed and pulled out his sketch book. He got out his 4B pencil, sat down on the bed and began to sketch from memory the lovely eyes of Thahn Ho. He wondered where she came from. She was Asian, but from what country? If he had been able to talk to her, he would know, only he hadn’t been able to talk. It was the damnedest thing. Munch Dutchendorph struck dumb. He was dumb, he was a little scrawny dummy. He let out a slow sigh.
Fluff sauntered into the room. His gold and white striped body wove around Munch’s legs. He took a couple turns then laid down at Munch’s feet. There was comfort in the cat. Fluff closed his big green eyes and began to rumble. Munch continued with his sketch. From the eyes he moved on to her perfect nose and her small smiling lips. He had never kissed a girl. What was that like?
For over an hour he worked on the drawing. The likeness was far from perfect but it did at least resemble her. There was that. Yes, there was that. When he heard Lolly enter the trailer he closed his sketchbook and shoved it in his back pack. He heard Lolly’s steps coming down the hall. She knocked on the door.
“Come in.”
She did. “Are you okay?”
“What do you think?”
“You don’t want to know what I think.”
The last thing he wanted right now was to have an argument with Lolly. “Yeah, I probably don’t.”
She sat down beside him on the bed. “You seemed okay on the bus. In fact you seemed almost happy.”
He had felt happy. He braced himself for a lecture on his behavior, but to his relief Lolly abruptly changed the subject. “That new girl, Thahn Ho, is really nice. She’s an artist too. In PE I asked her if I could see her sketch book. Oh my gosh Munch, the girl can draw. She drew these little tiny flower petals that looked so real. You should ask to see her sketch book."
At first, Munch took in this information with rapt attention and then he got suspicious. Did Lolly know he liked Thahn Ho? “Uh I might.”
“You should. She seems too shy to just show her art without being asked. I think she needs a friend. I think I'll invite her over. Trevor said its really hard to move to a new school and not know anybody.”
Oh my God, thought Munch. Thahn Ho might be coming over! Having a step sister did come with some advantages. Munch tried not to smile, but he couldn’t help himself. Lolly punched him in the arm and said, “I knew you liked her the minute I saw you with her this morning."
He could deny it, but Lolly knew him too well. He dropped his eyes and admitted, "Yeah I do, but she’s never gonna like me back.”
Lolly ran a hand over her bald scalp. “You never know what might happen.”
He shook his head. “You may be bald because of your alopecia but you’re still white. Do you think Trevor Long’s family would let him spend time with you if you was my color?”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
For a long minute Lolly just looked at him. “Well, your mom fell in love with your birth dad.”
“Lot of good that did them. It was illegal for them to get married in Texas back then.”
“Yeah, but its not illegal anymore.”
“Good Lord, girl, what are you talking about? I just like her I’m not even old enough to even think about getting married to anyone.” He cut his eyes at her, “You think about marrying Trevor Long don’t you? Now don’t lie to me.”
Lolly promptly turned completely pink. She did think about that. Ah man, he didn’t know if that was a good thing or not. “So you got a Bride magazine hid in your room?”
She dropped her eyes from his and nodded. Swiftly she looked up at him and said, “Don’t you dare tell anyone.”
“I won’t if you don’t tell anyone my secret.”
“Deal.” She stuck out her hand and they shook. “You know Munch, its probably best you don’t jump to conclusions about her or her family.”
“I don’t have to jump anywhere, facts is facts. Maybe some day, but right now, January 1976 its pretty hopeless.”
Softly Lolly said, “The thing is, I don’t want you to reject yourself before you even give her a chance to get to know you and decide how she feels about you on her own. Can you try not to do that?”
Maybe, she had a point. Maybe it was just wishful thinking. He shrugged and said, “I’ll try.”
“Good.”
He asked, “How was supper?”
“It was okay. But, God those two are sticky in love. I don’t blame you for NOT wanting to be there. The way they kept looking at each other, I felt like they were just waiting for me to leave. It is just so gross.”
“I figured it would be.”
In the kitchen the telephone rang. Lolly jumped up from the bed. “I bet that’s Trevor. I hope he won a race today.” She rushed out of the room, but Fluff didn’t follow her. He winked his green eyes at Munch and seemed to smile at him. Could cats smile?
*
It was Sunday morning. Tomorrow THAT MAN would be headed back to Louisiana. He had traded shifts with someone to spend the last few days on the farm. Tomorrow, when Munch came home from school, THAT MAN WOULD BE SOLID GONE! Munch could stay in his own house. He could sleep in his own bed. He could eat the food he was used to. Honestly, Grandma Toady’s cooking had done a number on his stomach.
Munch climbed out of his sleeping bag and went to take a shower. His mama had asked him to go to early Mass with her. Usually, he would have said no but, he figured she’d been pretty cool about letting him stay with Grandma Toady and he hoped to use Mass attendance as a bargaining chip.
After his shower, he put on his loudest suit. It was hot pink with lime green stripes. He knew it looked like a pimp suit. Wearing it was his little dig at his mama. If she wanted him in church she was just going to have to be okay with whatever he decided to wear. When he got to the house, she was already dressed. She was wearing a dark blue sweater dress that matched her eyes. She had her fluffy reddish hair pulled back with a ribbon. She looked so young. The wrinkle between her brows had flattened out. That was weird.
THAT MAN came into the kitchen. Praise the Lord, he was not dressed to go to church! Munch almost let out a sigh of relief. He gave Munch a nod, but he didn’t speak.
The ride to church was a silent one. His mama didn’t try to make small talk and neither did he. They turned into Damon, drove passed the Catholic cemetery and stopped in front Sts. Cyril and Methodius Catholic Church. It was the church his mother had grown up in and the church where his parents were married. Munch had been at the wedding but he was too little at the time to remember it. The outside of the small church looked like it had been built in a story book. The stained glass windows were beautiful. They got out of their little red Volkswagen. A green Volvo parked beside them. Inside the car was an Asian family. Munch’s heart seemed to stop. No, it could not be, but it was. Thahn Ho and her family got out of the car. Thahn ho had her hair in a ponytail circled with tiny flowers. She was wearing a cream colored crepe dress with white embroidery. It looked expensive. The girl had style.
Mama said, “Good Morning.” Munch was suddenly aware his mama's be friendly to guests antenna’ had just raised itself. This could be a good or a bad thing.
The man responded “Good Morning.” The woman nodded, the little boy was picking his nose. Munch looked at Thahn Ha, she was looking at him. She gave him her shy smile. It warmed him to his toes. He felt his face slide into a huge grin. He heard his mother say, “I am Estelle Dutchendorph and this is my son Michael.”
Munch noted she had forgotten to call herself Estelle Dutchendorph-Phelps.
Thahn Ha’s father had a slight accent when he said, “We are the Duongs. This is my wife, Huong, my daughter Thahn Ho and my son, Le.” He shook his head at the little boy. The child abruptly took his finger out of his nose and smiled.
Mama said, “Pleased to meet you. So glad you could join us. If you want, you are welcome to sit with us. No pressure though.”
Thahn Ho’s father cast a glance in Munch’s direction. Munch was suddenly very sorry he had worn his vindictive loud pimp suit. He felt his face flush. He thought, Mr. Duong is going to decline not just because of my skin color but because of this damned suit. To Munch’s surprise, he gave him a friendly nod and said, “Yes, that would be nice.”
Really? This was totally unexpected. Did God maybe, actually listen in on prayers sometimes? Still he couldn’t help but think Mr. Duong was wondering why a white woman had a black child. Maybe he thought Munch was adopted or something. He didn’t know. What difference did it make? He was about to share a pew with Thahn Ho!