The Year Money Grew on Trees - Aaron Hawkins [69]
"Amy?" I began, my voice cracking. "I should have told you something right from the beginning."
She stared at me without changing her expression.
"I ... I ... kind of made this agreement with Mrs. Nelson. I was so stupid!" I said, pounding the ground again.
"I know," she replied, looking down. "She told me."
"What?" I gasped, with my mouth open. "What did she tell you?"
"About the $8,000 and how you would get the orchard."
"When?" I asked, still stunned.
"About a month ago. I think she doesn't really want you to have it anymore and was thinking the rest of us wouldn't help you if we knew about your agreement."
I sat up a little. Amy knew? And she didn't completely hate me? All of a sudden my forehead didn't feel as hot. "So why did you? Why did you keep picking?"
She didn't say anything at first, just grabbed a stick and started drawing on the ground. When she spoke, her voice was clear and calm.
"I never was doing any of it for the money. I never really believed you about making any money."
I smiled back at her weakly.
"Things are so different now from how they used to be," she continued. "Sometimes I get afraid when I think about what's going to happen to me."
"You mean after high school and everything?"
"I don't think I want to live here, but I don't really know. I've never been anywhere else. I just know it's going to be different, and as much as I complain about this place, I know I'm going to miss it."
She looked at my face, and then looked down again. "And I know I'll miss you too. Brothers and sisters stay close to each other, but cousins grow apart as they get older. Look at our dads. They're brothers and they do everything together, but do they ever talk about their cousins?"
"That doesn't mean we can't stay close!"
"It just happens. It already has, you know. We aren't like we used to be." She said this all in such a clear and strong voice that I couldn't argue. "So, anyway, I just thought I would like to spend this time together. One last big memory we would never be able to forget. Plus, now you really owe me big." She grinned.
"I still don't get why you just didn't quit when Mrs. Nelson told you."
"I think I just wanted to see it all work out. I wanted to see you succeed. You deserve to now."
She sounded so grown-up, but I could still see in her the little girl in ponytails getting off the bus. The sky was a burning red now, and it shone against her dark hair and sun-browned skin. She was so beautiful and I loved her. As she sat drawing on the ground, I could see the dirt underneath her fingernails. She was wearing an old sweatshirt she hated that her dad had gotten from a thrift store.
"Amy, I, I really will always remember this, but it's no use. We're more than four hundred boxes short just to clear the $8,000, and the apples are already falling off the trees. Haven't you heard the thumps?"
"I heard something, but I wasn't sure what it was. So that's it, then? We're just going to stop? We just give all the money to Mrs. Nelson and that's the end?"
"I don't know what else we can do."
"What if everyone just picks? We'll get our parents to help too. I'll convince them."
"I don't think they would, and I don't think there's time."
"Well, then, let's just keep the money and not give it to Mrs. Nelson. Or tell her we only made $1,000 or even $2,000."
"I don't know. Maybe she would sue us or something. Tommy probably knows how many boxes we've sold. He pays attention to things like that."
Amy started chewing her thumbnail like she always did when she was thinking hard. I knew she was considering a confrontation with Mrs. Nelson.
"Do the rest of them know?" I asked. "Sam, Michael, and my sisters?"
"No, I never told them. It's your secret. It's up to you to say something."
All the sick feelings came back. I remembered Michael's skinny body shivering after being drenched with the hose and Sam spitting