South of Superior - Ellen Airgood [99]
“Uh-huh. She has a kitty, he’s named Marley. He purrs a lot, he slept with me, I slept on the couch, that couch is scratchy. I want to get a kitty, Mom. Can we?”
“Mmm.”
Madeline put a hand on his shoulder. “Your mom’s pretty tired. Let’s let her sleep.”
“No. I want to talk to my mom, we just got here.”
“I know, Peanut—”
“Don’t call me that, you’re not my mom!”
Madeline took a deep breath. “You have to let her sleep so she can get better.”
“No!”
Randi’s eyelids fluttered open. “Hey, Grey, you be a good boy for Madeline, okay? You do what she tells you, sweetie. Your mom kinda screwed Up, so—I can’t come home for a while.”
“But Mom—”
She grinned. “Don’t but Mom me, my butt’s big enough already.”
He giggled. A joke of theirs.
“Give me a kiss.”
Madeline gave him a boost and he put a solemn smack on her cheek.
“Thanks, kiddo,” she said sleepily. Greyson looked as if he would break down sobbing. Oh, the desolation in his face. Madeline really did not know if she was equal to this, but that was beside the point.
“That kiss is going to help her sleep better,” she said, scooping him Up. “That’s the best thing you can do for her. She’s got to rest, but I’ll tell you what, we’ll come back in a little while and say goodbye before we drive home. We’ll go shopping and find a little present to give her. How about flowers, what do you think?”
He said nothing, just shifted around in her arms Until he was looking over her shoulder, back at Randi.
“So we’ll go get something to eat, some lunch. How about McDonald’s, how would that be?” In Sault Ste. Marie, you could get fast food. There was a McDonald’s, a Burger King, a Subway, a Taco Bell. Also Walmart, Kmart, gas stations with rows of pumps. It seemed so strange.
“Okay,” he said listlessly.
“Okay, then!”
Greyson sighed and wrapped his legs around her waist, rested his head on her shoulder. She patted his back as she walked down the hall. Eventually—right?—he’d get Used to her, and to the situation. As Used to it as he could.
Madeline walked with Greyson to the little café she’d seen a few blocks away instead of driving to the McDonald’s at the edge of the city. She needed somewhere quiet, serene. At the counter she ordered a double espresso for herself and a cocoa for Greyson, and got them each a tuna fish sandwich.
“I hate tuna fish,” Greyson said, poking at it tearfully.
“It’s good for you. Try and eat it.” She closed her eyes as she sipped her coffee. It tasted good. It was wonderful to feel the thick, stubby little espresso cup with its diminutive saucer Under her fingertips. Frivolous, maybe, but true. This must be where the real pleasures in life lay, in these tiny, momentary pleasures. When she opened her eyes, Greyson was sitting slumped over his sandwich, his hands limp between his legs, tears trickling down his cheeks.
“Hey, what’s the matter? You’re tired out, aren’t you?” Of course he was, what a stupid question. Tired, desolate, terrified. And faced with tuna. His face had a pallor she should have paid attention to sooner. She hoped he wasn’t getting sick in addition to everything else. “Listen, forget the tuna. How about a grilled cheese? Or some soup?”
“I’m not hungry,” he whispered. She sighed, let her shoulders slump to match his. Oh, whatever were the two of them going to do? Greyson just sat, the tears trickling down, his thin shoulders shaking a little.
“Hey now,” Madeline said, reaching over and pulling him off his chair and into her lap. “It’s been a rotten couple of days, no doubt about that. But this silent crying thing, it really gets to me, you have to cut that out. You could yell a little maybe, huh? A little primal scream? What do you say? A little rage therapy? I don’t know, I’ve never tried it myself, I’ve always been like you, pretty much, so well behaved. Too well behaved, that’s what we are. But I’m thinking it’s time for Us to break out. It warrants a shot. Because life beats a person Up sometimes, and maybe all you can do is shout back. I don’t know, what do you think?”
Greyson relaxed into her like ice melting,