The Rule of Threes by Marcy Campbell (android e book reader txt) 📕

the coffee table. “It’s Tony, remember? I told you about him in the car,” she said, and I wondered just how much she’d actually told her.

“Hmmf,” Grandma said and went back upstairs before Tony or I could say a thing to her. Mom followed her. I had thought Grandma and I could look at some decorating magazines tonight, but it was too late, and she was too out of sorts. I could see I’d have to choose my moments carefully.

“Not too friendly, is she?” Tony asked me after they were out of earshot.

“Oh, but she is! She usually is. We used to talk about design things together, especially landscaping designs because she’s always liked flowers.” I wondered if she remembered that she liked flowers, that lilies were her favorite. “Tony, I wish you could have known her before. She’s different now. My mom says she doesn’t have a ‘filter,’ like, stuff comes out of her mouth without her thinking about it first.”

“That stinks,” he said.

“What? That she doesn’t have a filter?”

“No, that she had to change.” Tony looked back down at his notebook. “I hate that.”

I scooted closer to him, looking over his shoulder. “What are you studying?” I asked.

“Science. I’ve got a test tomorrow.”

“Do you want me to quiz you?”

“Nah, that’s okay.”

I filled in an answer on my math worksheet, but I couldn’t concentrate. I kept thinking about the argument with Dad.

“Are you sure you want to sleep here, Tony?” I asked. “Because I’d totally let you use my loft, if you wanted.”

He put down his notebook. “You would?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

Tony paused for a bit, like he was considering the offer, but then he picked up his notebook again. “Thanks, but, it’s okay. I don’t want to make trouble.”

“Make trouble? You’re not making trouble. I’m offering; you’re not making me. I told Dad it wasn’t fair to make you move again.” I stood up and re-tucked the corner of the sheet.

“Yeah, I heard you,” Tony said quietly.

“You did?”

“The window was open. And you weren’t exactly whispering.”

“Oh.” I felt kind of embarrassed all of a sudden.

He picked at some fuzz on the blanket. “It’s not like I’d already gotten so attached to that bedroom that it’s a big deal to leave it. I mean, I’m in a strange house, living with people I barely know. It doesn’t really matter where I’m sleeping, does it?”

That kind of hurt. “Of course it matters.” I turned slightly away, letting my hair cover my face. “We’re not that strange.”

“I didn’t say you were strange! It’s just the situation.”

We didn’t say anything for a minute, until I said quietly, “Did you hear the rest of what I said?” None of this had to be strange. It was our parents who made it that way.

“Yup, heard that, too.” Tony smiled at me. “Guess I shouldn’t have whipped the ball like that. I was just so angry.”

I shrugged. “You had a right to be.”

“Yeah, it’s just that . . . it’s pretty complicated. You know when you asked me about what I thought of Dad?”

I nodded.

“Well, like I said, I like him, but I didn’t tell you everything. You have to understand, my whole life, my mom has been telling me my dad was kind of a jerk, that he was just some dude who was passing through town, that he wouldn’t even remember her name. I mean . . .” Tony looked away from me. “Maybe he could have tried harder, but it’s not like my mom was helping things.”

“Dad told me you’d moved away, but then he saw your mom in town a few years ago and tried to get in touch,” I said. Things had changed so quickly. Just last month, I would have lost my mind to think of Dad having a kid with . . . not Mom. Now it was like it was normal. “I think he wanted to see you, but . . . it didn’t work out.” I didn’t know what exactly happened when Dad saw Tony’s mom, but something about it led to my mom finding out about everything, which led to them thinking about getting divorced, which led to Dad telling Mom I shouldn’t live with him. . . . And all of that was just part of the “things you do not understand” that Dad kept mentioning.

“Like I said . . . ,” Tony started.

“It’s complicated,” we both said together.

“Jinx,” we said.

“Buy me a Coke,” I said.

“What?”

“Buy me a Coke,” I repeated. “Did they do that at Bircher? When two people jinx each other?”

“No,” he said. “Does someone actually buy you a Coke?”

“No,” I said.

“Uh, okay,” Tony said.

He got the funniest expression on his face, and I busted out laughing, and pretty soon, we were both laughing so hard we almost started crying. Eventually, we settled down and went back to our work, but after just a few minutes, I yawned, which made Tony yawn, which made us both laugh again, but we didn’t jinx each other. It was past my bedtime. I didn’t know if my parents had given Tony a bedtime, but he looked pretty tired.

“Are you sure about sleeping here?” I asked.

“Yeah,” he said. “I’m sure.”

I gathered my homework and handed him his pillow, which had fallen down behind the couch.

“You know, I would have liked to have known, too, that I had a sister,” Tony said. He swung the pillow at me and just barely missed. “But better late than never.”

Some Perfect Family

The McDonald’s wasn’t very busy inside, though there was a long line of cars at the drive-thru that Tony and I had to carefully weave around. I couldn’t remember ever being inside the restaurant. On the rare occasion my mom or dad took me there, we used the drive-thru just like almost everyone else.

We were a little bit early. Tony wanted to “scope the place out,” he’d said, find a good spot. He’d practically run here, with me trying to keep up, and now he paced around nervously, eyeing the tables. He had plenty of choices since the only other people here were a trio of old men in a booth