Katie's Angel (9 page)

“Jack, I am so sorry that I was so mean at the cemetery. I know you were just trying to help. I just get so tired of everyone talking to me about how I should feel. Let me just feel what I feel so that I can deal with this my way,” Katie said as steady as she could get her voice to go.

“It is ok Katie. I understand, just know that I am here if you need an ear,” Jack said in the sweetest voice.

“I know and I appreciate your willingness to listen if I need to talk,” Katie said. She really liked talking to him and loved being around him. “Are we okay?”

“Yes we are fine, but I have one question for you,” he asked with a twinkle in his eye.

Katie started to blush and wanted to run away. She just knew what he was going to ask, and all she wanted to do was disappear.

Jack could see it in her face that she was petrified at the question he was going to ask her. It was actually really hard to not laugh at her. Instead he asked “Do you want to get lunch again sometime soon?”

Katie let out a breath of relief. It was as if she had stopped breathing. She thought he was going to ask about the things she said at the cemetery about him. Maybe he really didn’t hear her. She was
so extremely ecstatic, that all she could do was smile.

“I guess that means yes,” Jack replied. “How about we go to lunch again tomorrow?”

“I think that is a great idea,” Katie replied. “But I think we should have a picnic. You pick the spot and I will bring the food.”

“That sounds great!” Jack said. He liked the sound of a picnic. It reminded him of all the time he spend with him mom when he was
little. They would always go on picnics, even if it was just in the backyard it was always special.

“Well I have to get home to make dinner for my parents. I will see you tomorrow about eleven then?” Katie asked.

“Sure. I will meet you at your house if that is okay,” he said.

With that Katie turned and started towards her house, with a smile that she just couldn’t wipe off her face.

Chapter 12

When Katie returned home, she hurried into the kitchen to start dinner, just like she promised her mom she would. She took the chicken and put it in the pan after she put some oil in the bottom. She seasoned it with garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. After starting that on medium, she pulled out four pieces of bread and laid them on the counter top. She then went to the fridge and pulled out the lettuce, tomatoes, cheese, and the Italian dressing. She walked to the island in the center of the kitchen and pulled out the big salad bowl that she and Jackson had picked out for their mom for Mother’s Day. It was just a bowl that her dad had bought and then had her and Jackson, put their handprints all over it. She couldn’t remember what year it was but she did remember it was after Jackson got the diagnosis. She shook her thoughts away and checked on the chicken. It was coming along nicely.

             
She walked back to the island and started cutting up the lettuce and the tomato. She tossed it all into the bowl, and started to grate the cheese. Her mom never bought the shredded cheese. She always said that the shredded cheese tasted different than that of the block cheese. If you asked Katie, shredded cheese was a lot less work. After she was done shredding the cheese, she then checked the chicken again. It only needed about another ten or fifteen minutes and it would be done.

             
Katie felt like something was missing, so she walked over to the fridge again and looked at it trying to figure out what they were missing. She opened the fruit drawer and pulled out an avocado. She walked over and cut it into pieces. She put the pieces on a plate strategically. Dad didn’t like them, but she and mom have always had them with their salads.

             
Katie heard the chicken sizzling in the pan and decided that it might be done now. She took the chicken out of the pan and put it in a small bowl. She took some of the Italian dressing and poured in enough to cover the chicken. She put it to the side with a lid on it.

             
Now all she had to do was to make the croutons. She took the pan she made the chicken in and washed it. She then put it back on the burner, with a little bit of butter in it. When the butter had melted she took the bread slices she had laid out on the counter, cut it into small squares and put them in the pan. She added garlic powder to make the croutons a little tastier. She let them cook for about two minutes stirring them frequently. When they were done she took them out of the pan and laid them on a napkin on the counter.

             
She looked at the clock. Dad should be home anytime from what mom had said earlier. She put the garlic bread in the oven. As it cooked, she decided she would mix the dressing with the salad. She took the rest of the Italian dressing and poured it into the bowl on the lettuce. Taking the big salad serving set, she stirred it all together. She grabbed the chicken and mixed it in, adding the dressing that was left in the bowl. Then to top it all off she added the croutons. She then grabbed the garlic bread out of the oven.

             
She took three plates down from the cabinet and set the table. She put a glass down for her dad and her mom, as well as for her. She knew that mom would drink her regular glass of water with dinner, and dad would probably have a glass of sweet tea like he had every night for as long as she could remember. She made a glass of lemonade for herself and put them all on the table.

             
She walked into the kitchen and grabbed three forks out of the drawer and sat them on the counter. She grabbed the other bottle of Italian dressing out of the pantry and put it and the silverware on the table. As she walked back into the kitchen she heard the front door open. She heard her dad say hi to her mom as he walked into the living room. She had not heard her mom go into the living room. She continued putting everything on the table and when everything looked perfect she walked into the living room and told them it was dinner time.

             
As they all walked into the dining room, Katie grabbed the dressing and shook it really good. She took the top off and gave it to her dad as he sat down.

             
“This looks very good,” he said to her mom.

             
“Katie did all of this,” her mom replied.

             
“Oh she did huh,” her dad said in a suspicious kind of tone. “What made you decide to make us dinner?”

             
“Oh I just thought it would be a nice change for mom to not have to do dinner. It isn’t anything big. It was simple and hopefully it will taste like it is supposed to. I haven’t tried this type of chicken salad recipe before,” she said hoping that would lead to dad eating and not asking a lot of questions. She just wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone really. All she really wanted to do was go upstairs and climb into her bed and sleep until next week. Today had been a stressful day. She couldn’t imagine having a day like this again.

             
“How was your day, dear?” she heard her mom ask her dad.

             
“It was slow today. It seems that no one needs to buy a car like they used to. Things have really slowed down since the economy slouched like it has. Just another day at the office,” he said with a little chuckle in his voice.

             
“Well things are bound to get better. That is all we can hope for,” mom said, always the optimist.

             
“How was your day?” dad asked mom.

             
“It was slow so I came home early. I figured there was no reason to run up the hours for doing nothing. I came home and ended up spending most of the day with Katie, and I did all the laundry,” Mom said.

             
Katie was surprised, expecting mom to tell dad right away what happened today. In some way she was happy to avoid the conversation at dinner, but she knew that her parents would be discussing this later. That worried her a little more because that meant they would make decisions for her, and that was something she was truly starting to dislike.

             
Taking another bite of her salad her thoughts drifted to her picnic with Jack tomorrow. She had never been very comfortable with boys, but Jack was different. She had never talked to anyone about Jackson and when she felt safe enough to open up to him, it actually shocked her. She found herself wanting to share more and tell him exactly what happened. That wasn’t something that she had ever really wanted to do with anyone, including her parents.

             
Drifting back to the dining room, she heard her dad talking about his day. She tried hard to listen to what he was saying but she was distracted by what happened earlier and it made it extremely hard to be there in the moment with her parents. She knew that if her parents figured out that she was hanging out with Jack, they would ban her from being anywhere near him. They just wouldn’t understand. They would think this was her way of acting out and would ground her just to keep her from seeing him. Although she was surprised that no one had told them about her having lunch with him. Her day had gone from being a great day, to a horrible day in just a few hours.

She still wasn’t over getting that note but she did not really want to talk about it just yet with her dad. She was still trying to wrap her head around who would have been so mean to send something like that to her at all.

“Katie, are you going to answer your father?” Katie heard her mom ask as she snapped back to reality.

“I’m sorry
mom, I must have been day dreaming. What did you say dad?”

“I was just asking if you have started reading to the kids at the library.”

Thinking about how exactly to answer her dad without it coming out that she just went to the library to pick it up today. “No, I will do my first reading of the summer on Tuesday.” She said catching a glance at her mom to see just how much trouble she was in.

“Well that is great, honey. It is nice that you have something to do this summer. It will make it pass by faster. Have you talked to any of your friends yet?”

“I have seen them at the park, but we just say hi in passing. I just don’t feel the need to hang out with anyone just yet.”

“Well just don’t put it off to long. They are all concerned about you and they just want to know exactly how things are going with you.”

Rolling her eyes, already tired of this conversation, Katie reluctantly replied “I know dad. I will when I am ready.”

“Ok honey, I know you will.”

Looking at her mother with the look of displeasure on her face, she decided to do her best to change the subject of the conversation. “So I was thinking that we should do something this weekend. What do you think?”

“And just what do you
think we should do?” her mom asked knowing that Katie was just trying to change the subject. Little did she know that her dad would know everything that had happened that day soon enough.

“I don’t know. Maybe see a movie or something. Just do something as a family.” She said as she thought to herself “well as family as we can get since we are missing one.”

Dad looked at mom and shrugged his shoulders. It would be nice to spend a little time doing something they all would enjoy and not sit at home thinking about the missing piece in their lives. Things at home are so tense and the happiness isn’t like it used to be. No one really laughs like they all did when Jackson was there. He always made sure there was something to laugh about at least a few times a day. “Okay, pick a movie and a time and I will be there. Maybe afterwards we can get dinner somewhere.”

With a smile on her face, Katie felt triumphant to get through dinner without any news of her not telling the truth being said. “Great I’ll get online in the morning and find out what is playing.”

“That is a great idea.” Mom replied giving Katie a knowing look that said “you’re not out of the woods just yet.”

Katie ignoring the look for now stood up and started to clear the table. She took all the left over salad and put it in an air tight bowl and put it in the fridge. She turned on the hot water and rinsed the dishes, and loaded the dishwasher. She just wanted to get upstairs and lay in the tub. It had been a long, stressful day and she just wanted to forget everything for a little bit.  After wiping the counters off, she walked back into the dining room. Mom and dad were just getting up from the table. She walked over to dad and hugged him, and then hugged mom.

“I am going to lie in the tub and then go to bed. I love you both.” Katie said as she turned towards the stairs.

“Okay honey, thank you for dinner and for cleaning up. That was a nice treat. I will see you when I get home tomorrow night,” her dad said.

With that Katie went upstairs happy to be finished with the day. She knew tomorrow was going to hold a day of worry, but right now she just wanted to sit in the tub and think about Jack.

With Katie upstairs, her mom and dad went into the living room to relax for a while. When they got settled her dad asked her mom, “What was with Katie tonight?”

“Well I found out some interesting things today. When I got home, Katie wasn’t home.  I went upstairs and grabbed all the clothes to wash, and when I was walking back down the stairs, I saw her walking up the sidewalk. She was walking with that boy that got himself arrested for breaking and entering towards the end of the school year.”

“Why was she walking with him? It isn’t like they are friends or anything. She has never even mentioned him before
,” her dad said as he let his head drop into his hands.

“I know. Anyways, I didn’t tell her I saw that so she doesn’t know. When she came in we were in the kitchen and we were talking. The
phone rang, and I bet you can’t guess who was on the other end.”

Dad just shrugged still in shock that she was hanging out with a boy who had a bad reputation in the neighborhood.

“It was, Mrs. Smith, the librarian asking if Katie would be willing to read to the kids this summer.” Mom stopped to take a sip of her drink.

Dad looked at her and said “I thought she went to the library before and talked to Mrs. Smith. What is going on with her? She never did anything like this before.”

“I know. The weird thing is that when we went down to the library Katie couldn’t seem to get herself to go inside. I had to pretty much tell her to get inside and stop playing. Then when we left we went to the post office. I came out with a letter for Katie. It had no return address or anything on it. She didn’t open it at first, but after she did she came down here yelling at me about how it was not a funny thing to write a letter like that.”

“What letter?”

“That is just it. I didn’t write this letter. It was a letter that sounded like Jackson had written it to her telling her to live her life and stop acting out. She didn’t take it very well. I told her to stop freaking out. She got mad and stomped out of the house and was gone for almost two hours. I am really getting worried about her. She is not willing to admit that she needs help. She isn’t talking to anyone and she is hanging out with the wrong people.”