Summer on the Moon (16 page)

At the General’s order to “park it,” they all sat, Ceelie with Emily in her lap. For the first time since the move, the china that had come with them from the Kludge was set out, with forks and knives on either side. Ceelie bowed her head and grabbed Luke’s hand, which
everyone but the General took as a signal that they should do the same.

Socko found himself holding Luke’s hand on one side, Livvy’s on the other. Her hand felt warm. He stared at the platter of stiff slices of toasted white bread.

“Our heavenly Father, thank you for bringing us to this safe haven, and for this abundant meal …”

Socko checked out the steaming pot of lumpy paste. SOS was definitely school-lunch-worthy.

“And thank you for the kindness of these good Samaritans.”

The General coughed.

“Through Christ our Lord, amen.”

Luke was lifting a fork to his mouth when the General asked, “Do you all have family?”

Luke set down his loaded fork. Ceelie swallowed the bite in her mouth and blotted her lips with a napkin. “I have a sister in Michigan,” she said quietly. “But she has three kids in a little bitty house. Her husband’s out of work too.”

“Still, family are the folks who have to take you in.” The General looked pointedly at Delia.

Ceelie’s eyes were shiny again. “Oh, they’d take us in, but I couldn’t do that to them.”

“How about you, Luke?” the General asked. “Got anyone on your side who isn’t down on their luck?”

“No, sir.” Luke picked up his fork again, the SOS on it now definitely cold. “But we’ll manage.”

“How?” the General demanded.

Socko wished the old man would leave it alone. If Luke knew the answer to that, the Olsons wouldn’t be eating school paste at a stranger’s table.

When dinner was over Ceelie insisted on doing the dishes, which took a while. Neither she nor Delia trusted the dishwasher. Neither one of them had ever had one. Ceelie washed, and Delia dried. Livvy held Emily in her lap. The baby clutched a spoon and was banging it against the table. The General and Luke were talking, not about where
the family would go, but about Luke’s work as a landscaper. The General asked question after question as if he was really interested.

As he listened to them talk, Socko forgot the General was about to kick the Olsons out. He wondered if this was what family felt like.

Livvy jumped, then slid her cell phone out of her pocket. “Hi, Mother.”

Pinned down by the baby in her lap, Livvy was facing away from the front windows, but Socko could see a car in the driveway across the street. Livvy’s mother stood next to it, a cell phone pressed to her ear.

“Can I stay a little longer?” Livvy smiled at Emily, who was waving the spoon around. “I already ate.”

Socko watched the man who had accused him of vandalizing Moon Ridge get out of the car. He was holding a big sack of carryout, this time from a restaurant called Thai-One-On.

“Livvy,” said the General. “Ask your parents to come over. It’s time we got acquainted.”

“Can you guys come over here a minute?” Livvy’s eyes closed as she listened to their conversation. Although he couldn’t hear a word they were saying, Socko could tell the couple in the driveway wasn’t exactly thrilled about the invitation.

“Great!” Livvy’s eyes opened wide. “See you in a sec!” She handed Emily to Delia and ran to the door.

“Wipe your chin, Luke,” rasped the General. “And look intelligent. You’re about to have a job interview.”

Luke took a swipe at his chin with his paper napkin and stuffed the napkin in the pocket of his jeans.

Livvy leaned out the door and pulled her mother and father inside. “Everybody, these are my parents, Tim and Marsha Holmes!”

Socko noticed the way his own mother smoothed the front of her blouse as she looked at Marsha Holmes. Livvy’s parents obviously spent a lot of money on clothes, haircuts, and manicures. They looked like they belonged in a place like Moon Ridge. But they also looked tired. The tie around Mr. Holmes neck hung crooked. His wife had circles under her eyes that makeup didn’t hide.

Tired or not, their smiles flashed on like emoticons. Everyone shook hands. Delia gave Mrs. Holmes a hug. “So glad to finally meet you!”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you too,” said Mrs. Holmes, taking a step back. “Livvy says such nice things about all of you. We’ll have to have you over for dinner sometime.” She eye-signaled her husband with a quick glance at the door.

“Absolutely,” said Mr. Holmes. “You’ll have to excuse us for now, though.” He held up the bag of carryout. “Dinner isn’t getting any warmer.” With his free hand on his wife’s back, Mr. Holmes turned toward the door.

A battered wheelchair cut off their retreat. “Now that we’ve got the nicey-nice out of the way, let’s cut to the chase. Mr. Holmes, from the look of things I’d say you’re in a pickle.”

Socko saw the shock on Livvy’s face.

“I beg your pardon?” said Mr. Holmes.

“Nothing dishonorable about it, son. The way I hear it the whole country’s in a pickle. And that includes Luke here.”

Luke dipped his head in agreement and stared at the floor.

“The economy being what it is, Luke and his wife and baby are living in a car at the moment, but normally Luke is a landscaper. The subdivision he was working on went belly-up.”

“Which subdivision?” Mr. Holmes asked Luke.

“Buena Vista.”

Mr. Holmes nodded grimly. “Dave Mason’s project—I didn’t know it had gone under.”

“Oh, yeah,” said Luke. “A couple months ago.”

Mr. Holmes dragged a hand down his face.

“Mr. Holmes, I don’t see you selling a lot of houses,” the General pressed. “And you won’t if you don’t get a little greenery going. I’m thinking that maybe the two of you could help each other out. Put Luke and his family up in one of these houses you have so many of, and in trade he’ll plant up a few of the yards, as well as that bare dirt around the entry to the project.”

Socko stared at the General as though he had just pulled a rabbit out of his hat. But would Livvy’s dad go for the idea?

“Tim?” Mrs. Holmes said quietly. “This is ridiculous! We are not
that
desperate.”

Livvy looked back and forth between her parents. “How desperate are we?”

“Cash flow is a little tight right now, honey,” her father said, “but we’re fine.”

“Then why can’t we help Luke and Ceelie?”

“It’s kind of complicated, Liv.” Mr. Holmes turned to his wife.

“Mother, please?” Livvy begged.

“We are
not
a charity, Olivia,” Mrs. Holmes whispered.

Socko saw Luke stiffen.

“We don’t want charity, ma’am,” Luke said. “I do an honest day’s work for an honest day’s pay. You can call Dave Mason. He’ll give me a reference.”

Livvy stood between her parents, looking back and forth. “Mother? Daddy? We’ll help the Olsons, won’t we?”

Mr. Holmes put a hand on his wife’s shoulder. “What do you say?”

She sighed. “All right.”

“Thank you, thank you!” Livvy gave her mother a hug.

Having given in, Mrs. Holmes looked even more tired, but the emoticon smile switched back on.

“Now, if you’ll excuse us,” said Mr. Holmes, steering his wife toward the door. “It’s been a long day. We’ll firm up the details in the morning, Mr. Olson.”

“Thanks,” Luke said, watching Mrs. Holmes’s stiff back as she walked out.

“One hand washes the other,” the General called after them. “This’ll turn out good for everyone.”

Mrs. Holmes was opening the door when Delia said, “Just a second, Marsha.” Delia had been walking back and forth to the laundry room all evening, delivering stacks of clean clothes. She walked into the laundry room one last time and came out with Livvy’s mountain of towels. “Thanks for the loan.”

Mrs. Holmes raised her eyebrows at her daughter before turning to Delia. “Keep them, please.”

“Are you kidding?” Delia tried to force the towels into the woman’s arms. “Take ’em! Towels cost money.”

Mrs. Holmes held up a hand. “No, really. I insist. They’re not the right color for any of our new bathrooms.” She slipped her arm through her husband’s and headed for the door. “Olivia, I expect to see you at home in fifteen minutes. Good night, everyone.”

“Night,” added Mr. Holmes.

“Come over anytime,” Delia called after them, hugging the stack of towels.

Livvy didn’t do anything with her fifteen minutes. She just held the baby and rocked nervously back and forth.

“I’ll walk you,” said Socko when the time was up.

“No kissing on the first date,” the General rumbled as they walked out the door.

Livvy didn’t even blush—so Socko didn’t bother to either.

“Sorry I got you in trouble about the towels,” Socko said. “But I don’t get why your mom was so bent about taking them back.”

“Mother’s acting weird lately. Plus she’s a germ freak.”

“You can’t catch homelessness.” He thought it was kind of funny, but Livvy didn’t laugh.

As they walked through the open door of the three-car garage, Socko spotted a large map leaned against the wall. Having spent days making a map, he had come to appreciate their ins and outs, and this one was as big as the classroom map that had been his bedroom wall at the Kludge. “Nice map.”

“Map?”

“Yeah, over there.” It was only when he walked over to it, Livvy at his heels, that Socko realized he was looking at Moon Ridge Estates.

He was about to check it out and see how it compared to his own map when Livvy whispered, “That should be hanging on the wall of their office.” She stared at Socko, a look of panic on her face. “They’re going out of business!”

“No way. They’d tell you if it was that bad.”

“Really? I didn’t know we were moving until my mother began putting things in boxes! They don’t tell me anything.”

Not being told anything was hard for Socko to imagine. Delia shared
all
her worries with him—her hours were going to be cut, she didn’t have the rent money— sometimes way more than he wanted to know.

Livvy’s eyes darted around the unfinished garage. “What if we can’t keep
this
house?”

“Why wouldn’t you? Your dad owns Moon Ridge.”

“It’s not that simple …” She put her hand on the doorknob, then rested her forehead against the door. “Oh, Socko. I don’t want to live in a car.”

“You got two nice ones to choose from.”

She slipped into the kitchen without looking back.

“Just trying to cheer you up,” he told the closed door. “Sorry.”

The next morning Socko grabbed Damien’s hat off the doorknob. He turned it around in his hand until the
S
faced him. He hadn’t thought about Damien all that much lately. “Been busy,” he said under his breath, and put the hat on. He crept out of his bedroom, then hesitated in front of the closed door next to his, pretending for a second it was Damien sleeping in there.

“It’s okay, Em,” said a woman’s voice from inside the room. “Go back to sleep.”

His mother and great-grandfather were drinking coffee at the kitchen table. “Still sleeping?” Delia whispered, pointing up.

Socko nodded.

“And tonight they’ll be someplace else,” said the General, but Socko noticed that he was keeping his voice down too.

Delia heaved herself to her feet and put her cup in the sink. “Walk me out,” she said to Socko. At the car she pressed a crumpled twenty-dollar bill into his hand. “Give this to Ceelie for groceries. Don’t tell the General.”

Socko was hiding the twenty in his pocket when the sun peered over the edge of the earth and an orange light raked across their dirt yard. “Hey, Mom! Check out the lawn!”

“Goodness!” Delia had been watering the dirt for days, using the “gentle showers” setting on the sprinkler head so she wouldn’t dislodge the seeds. Now, seemingly overnight, a million tiny blades had sprung up and were standing straight and green. “It isn’t a lawn yet,” she said,
hugging herself. “But it’s a start. It’ll be the best lawn in Moon Ridge Estates.”

“It’ll be the
only
lawn in Moon Ridge Estates.”

His mother punched his arm. “Smart-mouth. With Luke here there’ll be more. But ours will still be the best.”

“Because it’s ours?”

“Right.” She stared at the cloudless sky and frowned. “The TV says it’s supposed to rain today. Doesn’t look like it, though. Our lawn could use a good, deep soak. If it doesn’t rain this morning, go out and water it good, okay?” She tapped the
S
on Damien’s hat and climbed into the car.

“What was that for?” Socko asked as she rolled down the window.

“Rain. And the Olsons. Junebug too.”

“What’s wrong with Junebug?”

“Same old same old. Forget I mentioned it.”

Just then, Livvy and her mother came out of their house. “Good morning, Marsha!” Delia called. “Thanks again for the towels.”

Mrs. Holmes waved and got into the car. Livvy hurried across the street. “Look!” She showed Delia and Socko a silver key. “It’s to the house next to yours.”

“More neighbors,” said Delia with a contented sigh.

“My parents and I talked last night and it’s okay about the map in our garage.” Livvy put the key on the kitchen table and helped herself to a bowl of cereal. “They’re moving to a different office. A smaller one,” she admitted, stirring the oaty clusters into the milk. “So I guess it’s not totally okay. But at least now I know there’s a good reason why I’m not going back to Haworth. It was a relief to find out that they weren’t just messing with my life.”

“Money?”

“Temporary cash flow. We all have to make a few sacrifices, but Dad says everything’s going to be okay.”

“Can I take a look at the map before they move it?” he asked.

“Sure.”

She finished her cereal, washed the bowl and spoon, and set them in the drainer.

Crossing the street, Socko checked the sky. In the time since his mother had driven away, the TV’s prediction of rain had become more believable. A ceiling of clouds hung low over Moon Ridge Estates. It seemed to flatten the already flat landscape.

Livvy rolled up the big garage door and turned on the bank of lights.

All of Moon Ridge Estates appeared in crisp black and white. Although the proportions were different, it looked a lot like his map. He found Full Moon Circle and traced it until his finger reached Tranquility Way, where it hung a left. “We live here.” It took another minute for him to find what he was looking for. “Hey, here it is!” he whooped.

“Here what is?” She pulled her hair back with one hand and took a closer look at the spot he was pointing to. “Oh, that …”

The Wildlife Area abutted the golf course and was almost as big. The whole area was textured with little symbols. “Trees?” he muttered, matching the symbol to the key. The only trees he’d seen there were lying dead on the ground. “Did they move the Wildlife Area?”

“No.” She let her hair slide out of her hand. “The partners decided an eighteen-hole golf course would be better for sales than a nine. Dad had to go back to the county commission and get a variance.”

“Holy crap! He bulldozed it?”

“He’s a developer. It’s part of his job.”

“Did you see what it looked like when it was a forest?”

“I never saw Moon Ridge at all before we moved here. But I’m sorry! I know how much you like nature.”

Socko shrugged off the hand she put on his arm and strode out into the rain that had just begun to fall.

While rain pelted Moon Ridge, the General taught them to play a card game called Crown and Anchor. They bet saltines. Socko didn’t feel like talking, and Livvy didn’t seem to either. “You two are about as much fun as a toothache,” the General grumped. “I almost wish the Olsons were still around getting underfoot instead of next door.”

Although Livvy always seemed to want to prove she was the best at everything, she was less than her usual competitive self. But since Socko couldn’t be bothered with trying and the General was on a losing streak, she managed to build a tower of saltines six inches high.

It was early afternoon when Livvy’s pocket began jingling classical music. She slid out her cell. “Yes, Mother?” She listened a minute. “Be right there.” She pushed away from the table and stood. “Gotta go. The partners are coming for dinner tonight.”

“Tell them there’s nothing left to bulldoze,” Socko called after her.

“Nothing but Holmes Homes,” the General observed as Livvy dashed out the door into the falling rain.

“What are you talking about?”

“I’m talking about the partners putting her folks out of business.” The old man began divvying up her saltines. “The only money Moon Ridge has made so far came out of my pocket.”

“Her dad said it was just a temporary cash flow problem.”

The General frowned at the last saltine in his hand, then dropped it on Socko’s pile. “Shutting down the whole shebang would fix that.” Socko kept on playing, but he barely noticed as all the saltines migrated to his great-grandfather’s side of the table.

Manuel’s old car crawled into the driveway at five. Delia’s face appeared and then blurred as the one working windshield wiper swatted the rain away. Socko expected her to use the button on her keychain to open the garage door since it was raining; instead the headlights went out and the lone windshield wiper stopped in mid-swish. The car door opened.

A long red spear emerged first. Popped open, it became a tiny umbrella—it must have come with the car. Delia rolled out. Although it was raining so hard the drops bounced off the umbrella, she just stood there.

“The grub isn’t even good when it’s dry,” the General complained as rain fell into the open top of the bag that hung on her arm. “Is Delia Marie having a stroke?”

Socko ran out in the rain. “Mom?” He blinked the rain out of his eyes.

She didn’t even look at him. She just stared into the rain. He crushed himself up against her under the umbrella to keep the rain out of his eyes and looked too.

He had never given it much thought, but their yard ran downhill to the road. In this heavy rain the edge of the driveway had become a swiftly moving river. When it reached the street, the river turned, spilling along the curb until it poured through the metal grate that covered the storm drain.

The lawn they had spread and stomped and watered and exhorted to grow had become a flotilla racing down the driveway, a million tiny green sails. Moon Ridge’s best and only lawn was disappearing beneath the road.

Socko stepped into the rushing torrent. Sprouts swirled around his ankles. Some clung to his socks, but most whirled by, dancing their way to the drain.

He felt a warm hand on his arm. “Come on, Socko. We’d better go inside before the burgers get any more waterlogged and we have to listen to himself.”

“But … our lawn …”

“I know, I know.” She linked her arm through his. Already soaked, they walked slowly up the path.

“In case you missed it, the lawn just washed away,” Delia announced when they stood dripping inside the front door.

“It was bound to happen,” said the old man. “At least you gave it a try.”

Delia wiggled her feet out of her sopping sneakers. “And I’ll give it another one too. There’s plenty more seed at Home Depot. We
are
going to have a lawn!”

The General gathered the cards as Delia thumped into the kitchen. “You’ll have a lawn if the whole shooting match doesn’t go up in
smoke,” he wheezed. He cocked his head toward the driveway across the street. “Behold. The partners.”

Three unfamiliar black cars sat parked at Livvy’s, the rain glistening on their perfect paint jobs. The General rapped the edge of the deck of cards against the table. “Looks like a funeral to me.”