Sudden Impact - Lesley Choyce [11]
“Do you think it’s safe?” he asked.
“They only yell. They never hit.”
“Call me if you need me,” Kurt said.
And sometimes I called. Sometimes his mom lied and said Kurt wasn’t home. But Kurt had a call minder on the phone in his room. If he saw that I had called, he called me back. Sometimes I just needed someone to talk to.
And Kurt had always been there.
We rode bikes together and then we started running long distance. Sometimes we kicked a soccer ball around at the park—at least until soccer season. That’s when he started to get more serious and began practising with the older guys. And he started hanging around with Jason. I don’t know why Jason didn’t like me. I don’t think it was personal because he could be nasty to just about anyone. It didn’t seem to bother Kurt, though.
So I decided to stay on the sidelines at the games and practices. I would be Kurt’s number one fan. I’d cheer him on. After all, that’s what friends are for.
My parents still had problems, but nothing would change that. I loved them, but I found it hard to be in the same room with both of them at the same time. I tried a few times to talk to my mom about it, but she always pretended that we were perfectly normal. “Everything is fine. All families have … difficulties.” I promised myself that when I grew up I’d never be like them. I would find someone I truly loved, and I’d live happily ever after. I really would.
chapter eleven
When I got home the house was empty, as usual. Both my parents worked now. They had crummy jobs and there never seemed to be enough money. So what else was new? At least it was quiet.
In my empty house, I sat down and tried to watch TV. The soaps were on. Peggy just found out that she had been cheated out of her inheritance and she was crying. I switched it off in disgust. What crap! People crying because they were no longer rich. That’s just the way everybody was. They cared about garbage. Nobody cared about what was really important.
I was angry at the way things were going. And I was so confused too. There was so much about Kurt’s problem that I didn’t understand. Bennington made it sound unlikely that they would find a liver for Kurt. “We’re doing as much as we can,” he had said. “Unless a donor comes forward, there’s not much we can do except continue to take good care of Kurt.” The big trouble, I knew, was that the liver donor had to be dead first.
Whatever they were doing at the hospital, it wasn’t enough. I was angry and I was very tired. I dozed into a fitful sleep on the sofa.
Then the doorbell rang. I shook the sleep off and opened the door.
“Who do you think you are spreading rumors about Kurt’s condition around school?” Kurt’s mother snapped at me as soon as I opened the door. Behind her Mr. Richards looked upset and uncomfortable.
“What are you talking about?”
“I heard from Mrs. Leach that you were scouting around for blood for transfusions or some such thing. That’s none of your business. Ever since I met you, little girl, you’ve been so pushy. Always trying to influence Kurt … the wrong way.”
“Where are your parents?” Mr. Richards interjected, with a shade more cool in his voice.
“They’re not here,” I said. “And you’re wrong. I’m trying to help.”
“You’re just a kid!” Kurt’s father shouted at me. “We’ve got doctors there, some of the best trained men in the country.” He said the word men like that was what counted. Men could handle these things. Not women. And especially not girls.
“If we don’t do everything we possibly can, Kurt could die!” I screamed at them.
“Who told you that?” Mrs. Richards screamed back. “Who told you that? It’s not true.” She leaned back against her husband and started to cry.
Mr. Richards looked at me and, almost whispering, said, “How did you know?”
“I overheard it. I was there when the specialist came. I know that it’s not just the rare blood type. He needs a transplant too. It’s true, isn’t it?”
Mrs. Richards was lost in her tears. For a brief flash it was all too weird to be real. I thought I had fallen asleep in the middle