The Good Son by Carolyn Mills (free e reader txt) 📗

I didn’t see what was so special about the figurine that she had to hold it all reverently like that.

“Royal Doulton. Oh, Ricky, you shouldn’t have.”

Ricky shrugged. “I thought you’d like it.”

“I do. I do. I love it. But, really, you didn’t have to do that. Oh, isn’t it gorgeous?”

Mom must have examined every single little detail on that doll while my hand-crafted tree lay forgotten on the table beside her.

WHEN RICKY PEELED HIMSELF OFF the couch and picked up his duffle bag, I followed him to his room. He kicked the door open with his foot and threw his bag on the freshly-made bed. Turning to face me, he said, “So, what’s the plan tonight? Does Mom want us to watch some corny Christmas movie or something?”

“I keep a lot of my stuff in here now,” I told him. “Mom said I could. Since it’s not really your room anymore.”

He glanced around. “Uh huh.”

“It’s mostly stuff I don’t want anymore. Mom calls your room the dump. Like where we put things we don’t want.” That wasn’t true at all. Mom had never even commented on me keeping stuff in here, but it sounded vaguely insulting and I wanted to see how Ricky would react.

“Well, it looks a helluva lot better than when it had all my crap in it.”

I trailed him back to the living room where Mom was setting out three glasses of eggnog. She smiled when she saw us, and I felt bad for trying to incriminate her. I shouldn’t have faulted her for loving us both.

CHAPTER FOUR

•

AFTER CLOSE TO A YEAR of living without Ricky, I began to forget how uncomfortable I used to be around him. I forgot a lot of things. Little details of his personality that used to prick at my conscience evaporated from my memory. Amy stopped tapping on my window with her dead fingers. Her disappearance and the discovery of her murdered body felt far away. Almost like something I’d made up. My wavering suspicions about the afternoon she went missing faded into a hazy and unreliable non-memory. Ricky was simply my older brother, who lived and worked in Leeville, and nothing more.

“WHERE ARE YOU GOING?” I asked, thinking I hadn’t heard Mom properly.

“A women’s retreat in Niagara Falls. With Lorraine and Linda. It’s just for three days.”

“Is it a church thing?” Mom had started attending the Baptist Church just after Christmas and I knew that both Lorraine and Linda also went there.

“I guess you could call it that.”

This retreat in Niagara Falls must’ve been a big deal for Mom because she got all excited every time she talked to Linda on the phone, hashing out details, confirming times, planning where to stop for lunch, discussing what she was packing, and on and on. I didn’t begrudge her the excitement, but I wasn’t too happy about the arrangements she’d made for me. Since she was leaving early on Friday and not returning until the late afternoon on Sunday, she’d decided to ship me off to stay with Ricky for the weekend.

“It’ll be nice for you two to spend some time together, won’t it?” Mom asked.

I shrugged. While I had originally begged to stay home by myself, the prospect of two whole nights alone kind of terrified me, so in the end I didn’t put up too much of a fight. Ricky was going to pick me up after school on Friday and bring me home again on Sunday.

“I think it’s the perfect way to start your March Break. You hardly see your brother anymore, so this will be a great chance for the two of you to catch up.”

When Mom hugged me goodbye before school on Friday, she looked anxious. The fact that she might be worried about leaving me with Ricky made me uneasy, but I didn’t want her to get stressed and not be able to go on her retreat because of me. Or worse, have her crappy heart start acting up because of me.

“Mom, I’ll be fine,” I said, pulling out of her too-tight embrace.

“I know. I know. Remember to brush your teeth! And don’t stay up too late. I already told Ricky —”

“Mom! Stop worrying. I have to go or I’ll be late for school. I’ll see you Sunday, okay?” If I hadn’t rushed out of the house, speed-walking down the sidewalk, I might have given in to the swirling uncertainty churning in my gut. I might have collapsed into my mom’s arms, like a baby, and begged her to stay home with me.

As I marched to school, determined not to turn around and look to see if Mom was standing on the porch watching me, I remember thinking that she wasn’t going to have as much fun as she hoped on her weekend away because of me. Instead of feeling guilty, I felt reassured.

RICKY WAS WAITING FOR ME in front of the house after school. He threw my stuff into the back seat of his Mustang. I watched as my pillow slid to the floor. I wanted to reach in and pick it up, but instead I climbed into the passenger seat as if my pillow being on the dirty mat in his car didn’t bother me at all. I was nervous about staying with Ricky; I didn’t know what to expect. Mom and I had only been to his place in Leeville once, right after he moved in, and we hadn’t stayed inside for more than fifteen minutes. That time, we said hello to his roommate, glanced around quickly, then went out for dinner as a family at Swiss Chalet. After we’d dropped Ricky off again, Mom and I drove straight back to Dunford.

Ricky’s Mustang was cleaner than I expected so maybe my pillow would be alright.

“How was school?” Ricky asked.

I stared straight ahead. “Boring. Our teacher gave us homework to do over the break, so that sucks.”

Ricky didn’t reply and we drove most of the rest of the