The Year Money Grew on Trees - Aaron Hawkins [64]
"Oh yeah? How many boxes you planning on selling?"
I knew Tommy had seen the contract I signed with Mrs. Nelson, although he had never mentioned it to me. I looked over at Amy, who was one tree away and listening to the radio. I lowered my voice so she wouldn't hear anything if the conversation slipped into details about money and payoffs. "We've got to clear $8,000, so that's gotta mean over a thousand boxes," I said to Tommy with a resigned shrug.
Tommy gave me a knowing smile. "I don't know where she got that $8,000 number."
"She said your dad could make that easily in a year."
Tommy let out a little chuckle. "I doubt he ever made even half that much. My mom doesn't know the difference between $800 and $8,000. She's terrible with money."
My shoulders sagged. "Really? She made it sound, you know, so doable."
"Well, what do you think now? Is it doable?"
I put my head down and looked at my feet. "I guess it has to be. We'll just have to work harder." I looked over at Amy. "I can't just walk away with nothing. I've got to give the other kids something."
Tommy's mouth curved up into a sympathetic grin. "It's kind of a crazy situation."
He said goodbye and lumbered out of the orchard while I quickly climbed back up my ladder and a new dread hit me. What if Mrs. Nelson had known the $8,000 target was impossible? What if she wanted me to fail all along so she could keep the orchard and the money while playing mind games with her son? I flushed from my neck up, but kept hidden among tree branches so Amy wouldn't notice.
***
After school the next day, Mrs. Nelson was waiting for me outside her house as I ran home from the bus stop.
"Jackson? Can you come talk to me for a minute?" she called sweetly.
I skidded to a stop and reluctantly followed her up to her porch. My sisters and cousins stood watching from the dirt lane, but I waved for them to keep walking before trudging through Mrs. Nelson's door.
"Come in, come in," she called, and pointed me into one of her chairs. "Can I get you anything to drink?"
Her sudden friendliness was very transparent. "No thanks."
Mrs. Nelson sat across from me and put on a big smile while she smoothed down her hair and checked that her earrings were in place. "Tommy said he stopped by and watched you pick apples last night."
"Uh-huh," I grunted, nodding my head.
"He said you've got your own little fruit stand up on the road. Said you were determined to make that $8,000. Now, is that what we agreed on? It seems so long ago. I didn't realize you were taking things so seriously."
"I thought that's what you wanted. I was supposed to prove I was the true heir."
"What I wanted? Oh, I don't think so. I just wanted to see that orchard alive again. You kept pressing me for money. Looking back, it kind of seems like you were taking advantage of me when I was vulnerable." Her broad smile faded and then drooped into a self-pitying frown.
My skin began to get hot. A shock wave of anger almost pushed me out of my chair, but I stayed quiet and looked away from Mrs. Nelson's face.
"Now Tommy thinks we should make a different agreement," she continued. "He thinks we should just split the money no matter how much there is. And I would keep the orchard, of course. I mean it's ludicrous to think of just giving it away to a child. That land's probably worth more than your parents will ever have in their lifetimes."
Her voice had the same sugary sweet tone she had started with, but the words were bitter and resentful. All of a sudden it was like I was trying to steal something from her—something I wasn't good enough to have. She really had hoped I would just give up and go away when she started ignoring me.
"I wanted that in the first place. Just to split the money," I said in a shaky voice. I spoke slowly, forcing out every word.
"Good. Then let's say you can have twenty percent of it. That should be more than enough