Drawing Bloodlines (4 page)

Leah stood up, making the final touches to Nathan’s bed, and smiled. “I think now would be a good time for
me to check-in with Lafonda.”

Happily, she strolled past Bobby, but not b
efore roughing the dark curly hair on his head with her fingers. She smiled wide as her eyes met Jonas’s, but abruptly came to a halt when she noticed the unhappy scowl on Nathan’s face. “I’m not going far, handsome,” she said. “I promise — just over to the main house.”

Nathan’s eyes fluttered a few times before his frown slowly formed into a smile. “Okay,” he said, reluctantly, while glancing first at Bobby,
then at Jonas.

She followed his gaze and gave a quick grin before ste
pping onto her toes to kiss him on the cheek. “I’ll be back.”

“So,” said
Nathan, drawing a deep breath.

“Oh, wait!” said Leah, hurrying back int
o the room. “I almost forgot — my bag!”

Suddenly, a few frown lines appeared on Nathan’s for
ehead. “Oh, okay,” he said, sounding a bit confused. “But aren’t you coming back?”

Quickly, she reached for the brown knitted bag that sat at the foot of Nathan’s bed near Bobby’s leg. “Umm — yes,”
she said, her voice quivering.

“Oh, here,” sa
id Bobby, reaching for the bag.

“I got it!” said Leah, forcibly. She paused to secure the long crochet strap diagonally across her shoulder and chest.
“I mean, thanks, but I got it.”

Bobby, Jonas, and Nathan all looked at Leah confused. “A girl can never go too far wit
hout her brush and things,” she said nervously, while patting the bag. She smiled and then swiftly headed toward the door. “I’ll see you guys later.”

Nathan’s face continued to frown, but he turned his atte
ntion to Jonas and Bobby after Leah closed the door. “So,” he sighed. “What did you guys want to talk about?”

Bo
bby stopped rubbing his elbow and with his left eyebrow raised, made a displeasing glare at Nathan.

Nathan grinned. “I mean … what did you want to talk about,
Jonas
?” he asked, placing an emphasis on the word “you.”

Quietly, Jonas stared at him through his dark shaggy hair and his brown eyes slightly shivered in their sockets again. “D
on’t you miss us!” he blurted.

“Ugh!” said Bobby, rolling his eyes. “I don’t need to talk about anything!” Quickly, Bo
bby launched forward from the balls of his feet. “Just give me the dang basketball!”

“Aaaah!” Jonas moaned as Bobby crashed into him; cau
sing the basketball underneath his arm to fly into the air.

Quickly, Nathan ducked as the ball flew unexpectedly over his head. It hit the wall above his wooden desk and landed on top of the rose-colored picture frame.

3

P
ROTECTING WITH SECRETS

Nathan stood motionless as he stared at the shards of br
oken glass and the pieces of red painted wood that lay strewn across his wooden desk. He was so still and his face so red that Bobby was scared Nathan would never breathe again. Slowly, Jonas’s stunned face gave way to a frown as he carefully stepped forward. He winced as he cautiously reached in front of Nathan to stop the rolling basketball from falling off the desk and on to the ground.

“Umm, you can just buy a new one, right?” stammered Bobby. He paused, taking a m
oment to look at Jonas. “I’ve been with Mom to this store near campus — to replace stuff I’ve broken at home.”

Bobby inched closer. “And by the looks of it — it looks old anyway.” He shrugged and reached out for Jonas’s ba
sketball again. “Mom always says there’s no use in crying over old stuff.”

Jonas cringed and then turned around to shake his head at his little brother. “Umm, Nathan?” whispered Jonas. He swallowed hard, hesitating to speak. “Are you … okay?”

“Well, at least the other one isn’t broken,” said Bobby, while looking over Jonas’s shoulder.

Jonas turned around again, this time to glower at his little brother. “What!” shouted Bobby as he crossed his arms. “I don’t u
nderstand what the big deal is — I break stuff all the time.”

“You’re not supposed to break stuff, Bo
bby!” said Jonas, sternly. He took a deep breath and then whispered in his ear. “Remember what I told you? The reason why Nathan lives here with his grandfather? It was his mother’s.”

Bobby’s eyes grew wide and then his head hung low. “Oh,” he uttered, softly.

Slowly, Jonas tried to catch a glimpse of Nathan’s face. “Umm — Nathan,” he said with some trepidation. “Do you think the other frame is broken?”

Nathan continued to stand motionless, but finally exhaled deeply as Jonas reached out to touch his hand. Both Jonas and Bobby looked at each other with a sense of relief as N
athan carefully shook shards of glass from the other picture frame.

It had fallen flat on its face and Nathan was worried that it too had been broken. He stared at the silver picture frame, its glass intact and in place. He then stared longingly at the pregnant woman looking back at him. Besides the dust and small particles of wood fragments on the glass, she stood just as he remembered her; a smile full of hope and eyes beaming with life.

“Good, it’s not broken!” exclaimed Jonas, while securing the basketball underneath his arm.

Nathan turned around to look at him and his pursed lips slowly curved into a smile. “Yeah,” he said drily and Nathan could hear Bobby release a deep sigh.

Nathan turned to reassure him, but Bobby had already embraced him tightly to his side with a hug. “I’m sorry, Nathan,” he said. “I didn’t mean to.”

“It’s okay,” he said, while resting his arm around Bobby. But Nathan’s worse fear lay in front of him.

Nathan’s smile had disappeared again as he released Bobby. Carefully, he maneuvered through the pieces of glass and wood, so that he could examine the photo. Nathan blinked a few times and couldn’t believe his eyes. Even though the rose-colored picture frame his mom had carved from wood lay completely in ruin, their wedding photo was perfect and intact. Nathan smiled as he admired the picture of his parents, both dressed in their Sunday best.

“What was your dad’s name?” asked Jonas with a smile. “And your mom — she’s bea
utiful. Grace, right?”

“Yeah,” said Nathan. His stomach tingled and a warm feeling began to grow from the pit of his stomach. He smiled. “Yes, my mom’s name is Grace and my dad’s nam
e is Michael. Michael Urye.”

“I’ll help you clean!” said Bobby ea
gerly, reaching for the glass.

“Wait!” shouted Nathan. Bobby froze. He could see a look of disappointment starting to creep onto Bobby’s face. “You can help, but let m
e put the pictures away first.”

Bobby smiled wide as Nathan placed the silver picture frame and the wedding photo of his parents into the top drawer of his desk. “What’s this?” asked Bobby, quickly reac
hing through the shards of wood and glass again.

“Wait, Bobby!” cried Jo
nas. “Before you cut yourself.”

Bobby paused and then frowned. “I’m not four years old, Jonas,” he seethed. From u
nderneath the small fragments of glass and wood, Bobby pulled out a small cylinder object. “What is this? A whistle?”

“Let me see that,” said Nathan, sounding intrigued and surprised. Bobby handed N
athan the small silver object. The surface of it was smooth and it glinted in the light.

“See, there is a slit or a hole near the top, for the
sound to come out,” said Bobby.

Jonas looked intently at Nathan. “You haven’t seen it b
efore, have you?” asked Jonas.

Slowly, Nathan shook his head while rubbing his hand over the surface of the object that nestled in the palm of his hand. “No, I h
aven’t” he said.

“I’m guessing it’s a whistle,” continued Bo
bby, stepping forward.

“It’s not a whistle!” responded Jonas, in a condescending tone. Bobby glowered at him. “Look Bobby, it’s too small to be
a whistle.”

Suddenly, there was a gleam in Bobby’s eyes. “Then, I bet i
t’s a dog whistle,” he boasted.

“I hi
ghly doubt that,” said Nathan.

Bobby looked
confused while Jonas smirked.

“See the bottom?” explained Nathan. “There’s no way to blow in the air to make it whistle, j
ust a clasp at the end of it.”

“What was it doing inside your mom
’s picture frame?” asked Jonas.

“I have no idea,” said Nathan
.

Bobby’s head sprung up. “
Can I have it then?” he asked.

“No!” crie
d Bobby and Nathan in unison.

“Ugh!” wined Bobby, plopping down on to the edge of Nathan
’s bed. “I never have any fun!”

Nathan turned to look at Bobby and sighed before he slowly shook his head. “It looks like it’s a charm or som
ething,” he said. “I’m guessing because of the clasp — and how small it is. It probably was worn as a part of a necklace.”

“Or bracele
t,” added Jonas. Nathan’s forehead furrowed again and Bobby overzealously nodded his head. “It’s small enough to be worn as a charm on a bracelet.”

Gently, Nathan continued to turn it over in the palm of his hand.
Could this have been my mom’s
? He thought.
And why would she put this in a picture frame
?

Nathan opened the top drawer to his desk again and took out his parents’ wedd
ing photo.

“It looks like she’s wearing a gold chain — or necklace,” said Jonas, peering over his shoulder. “But most of it is hi
dden beneath the top of her wedding dress. What about the other photo?”

Nathan glanced down to the silver picture frame that now sat in his drawer on top of last semester’s books for Spanish class. In that photo, his mom was alone and she had her hands placed lovingly on the top and bo
ttom of her growing stomach. Gently, Nathan clutched the small, but long cylinder object in his hand again as he eyed the length of the gold chain around her neck.

“She has it tucked underneath her shirt in that photo too,” said Jonas, taking a quick pause to look around the room. “Do you
have another picture of her?”

Slowly, Nathan looked around the room too, but then his heart sank. “No,” he said, curling his lip in frustration. “Th
ese are the only two pictures I have of her.”

“Oh,” said Jonas, breaking his gaze to stare at Bobby. Bobby raised his thick black ey
ebrows and then shrugged. “How about Roy?” continued Jonas with renewed enthusiasm. “I’m sure he has more pictures.”

“Uhh,” slurred Nathan, clutching the small silver object tighter in his hand. “W–
what was it that you wanted to talk about?”

“Huh?” asked Jonas abruptly, sounding confused. He turned to look at Bobby, but Bo
bby quickly looked down while shaking his head. “I thought we were trying to figure out where the whistle — I mean the charm — came from.”

Bobby’s eyes quickly looked up at
the word “whistle” and beamed.

“I’m sorry that I haven’t been available much,” explained Nathan. There was a slightly bewildered look on Jonas’s face. “I really don’t have an excuse. I’ve kinda been avoi
ding everyone.”

The frown lines beneath Jonas’s dark curly bangs dee
pened.
“Oh, okay,” he said, somberly and in defeat. Jonas flopped down beside Bobby on the bed. “I guess this means you’re changing the subject.”

“And keeping us in the dark,” adde
d Bobby, underneath his breath.

“It’s — it’s just that,” he paused after catc
hing a glimpse of their attentive, but blank faces. Nathan placed the wedding photo back into the drawer and then sighed. “Do I really have to explain?”

Both Jonas and Bobby turned their heads to look at each other and then quickly turned back to face him in un
ison. “Yes!” they both echoed.

Wearily, Nathan drew a deep breath and then sighed again, but before he could start to explain, there was a knock on the be
droom door.

“Oh, hey, Lafonda!” s
aid Jonas, sounding surprised.

With a swift side bump with his hip, Nathan quickly closed the drawer to his desk. “Uh, hey, Lafonda,” he said, while shoving the small cylin
drical object into his pocket.

Lafonda stepped into the room, her usually long straight black hair coifed in silky curls across her shoulders. “Am I interrupting something?” she asked, scanning
their faces and then the room.

“Uhh — no,” stammered Nathan, taking a step forward in an attempt to shield Lafonda’s view
of his desk. “Umm, what’s up?”

Lafonda’s eyes squinted as if she scrutinized his answer. “Whatever,” she commented, underneath her breath. She paused, folding her arms across her chest. “I only came over because Roy asked me to find out if you plan to ride with us tonight. My Spider is only a two-seater, but Angela drove her SUV t
oday.” 

“Ooh!” exclaimed Bobby. “I love the Ferrari Spider. Can I ride with you?” He smiled.
“And red is my favorite color.”

“No, Bobby,” giggled Jonas. “You’re not even
going to the concert tonight.”

“What — what?” he exclaimed. Bobby had a distraught look on his face. “Then what did we come here for?”

“I came here to go to the concert,” said Jonas, confidently. “Mom just wanted you out of the house.”

“What?” he huffed. “What am I supposed to do here while you guys are gone? Play cards with Roy and LaDo
nda?”

Nathan tried not to laugh at Bobby and headed over to the window. “Of course, a BMW,” he said, while peeping through the curtains. “Is it just me or is every young pe
rson in this town trying to emulate Jim Darding? They do make other cars you know.”

“Whatever, Nathan,” groaned Lafonda. “Don’t start in on my boyfriend — and A
ngela’s not even from Cahokia Falls, she’s from Chicago.”

“Back with Jim again,” he grumbled underneath his breath. Nathan frowned and then paused to check the face of his phone. “You know … you didn’t have to come all the way over here. You could
have just sent a text message.”

“Oh really,” said Lafonda. “You know, I would have, but lately it seems like you have a habit of ignoring your text messages, let alone actually talking to anyone.” She paused. “Oh, wait, I’m sure you talk to Jon
athan — and I’m pretty sure you still talk to Malick.”

“And what is that supp
osed to mean?” blurted Nathan.

Jonas and Bobby turned to look at each other, both no
dding in agreement.

Ardently, Nathan shook his head while looking at the display of displeasure on the faces of his friends. “No!” he said abruptly and Lafonda, Jonas, and Bo
bby looked confused. “I won’t be riding with anyone — I plan to ride alone!”

“Don’t be ridiculous!” shou
ted Lafonda, rolling her eyes.

“No, I plan to take Roy’s truck,” he e
xplained, fervently.

“Okay, well, I’ll make sure to let Leah know,” smirked Lafonda. “Because as we all know, your
communication isn’t the best.”

“What’s your deal?” he demanded. “I’ve given you your answer. What else do you want?”

“Come on, Bobby,” said Jonas, springing to his feet. “Let’s let them talk.”

“B–
but wait,” said Nathan, sympathetically. “We didn’t finish. What did you want to talk about?”

Jonas stopped in his tracks as he ushered Bobby out the bedroom door. “It’s okay,” said Jonas. “We can talk about it later. This isn’t the first time I’ve had to deal with things on my own.” He shrugged. “I’m ge
tting used to it.”