“Davey, I’m sure there’s an explanation for all of this,” Sunny told me as I picked the mint in her backyard and she sat on the lawn nearby. I put the mint into my mom’s wicker basket lined with wet newspaper to keep it fresh.
“Yeah, like what?” I asked looking up at her.
“Well…maybe Mrs. Corcoran has an evil twin sister. They say everybody has at least one twin in the world.”
“Not me, my mom says they broke the mold when they made me.”
She laughed that cute laugh of hers, and I stopped doing what I was doing to watch her. God she’s beautiful.
“Maybe it’s not an evil sister after all; maybe, yeah I got it, maybe it’s a cousin who looks just like her and she got into some trouble, that’s all. That’s what I think it is.”
“Yeah, maybe that’s it. Maybe that’s why she didn’t want to talk about it with me. Yeah, that’s it. Some cousin that lives out in Texas or something.” That was it. That had to be it.
“Wow, what a relief,” I shouted. I spun around on the laundry pole and spun off, rolling down the hill into the weeds. Boy was I happy. I really liked Mrs. Corcoran, Meg. I didn’t want her to go to prison. She was a friend. I never thought that way about her until that very moment, but it was true. She was a good friend. She had helped me a lot this summer.
“Davey, I have to go in soon. Are you coming for dinner with me and my family next week?”
“Sure, I just have to ask my mom that’s all.”
“Okay, but don’t wait too long. I go back to Chicago to live with my sister soon. Then I go to school until next summer.”
She turned to leave, but I held her arm for a moment and whispered, “Wait, I have to tell you something else. Timmy told me he really likes you… and not just as a friend if you know what I mean.”
Her smile faded, then returned as she said, “I like Timmy too Davey, but only as a friend. But you, I really like you.” She kissed me on the cheek. “Know what I mean?”
“Yes, I think I do.” Should I tell her about the gun? No, it would just scare her.
I picked up all the mint that I had cut and looked at my treasure. This will bring me at least three or maybe even four dollars when I sold it to the restaurants. I nearly had all the money for Mr. Jost!
“Oh, I nearly forgot, now that we settled the FBI mystery, let me see your story before you go.” I handed her my journal. She smiled as she read it, her lips, and eyes moving in tandem, before turning pages.
After Sunny finished reading it, she smiled, hugged me, and then kissed me, on the lips, a long slow kiss. A different kind of kiss. “I love it, Davey. Whatever you do, don’t ever stop writing.” She turned and walked inside her house, but my hand went to my lips where she had kissed me. Now I had two things I would never forget—what Mrs. Corcoran had said about my story and… a kiss from Sunny.
I ran home so as not to be late for dinner.
“Davey,” my mom said as I came inside, “Dinner’s on the table. Wash your hands; we’re going to sit down to eat.”
“I’ll be right in mom. I gotta go to the bathroom first.” When I was done, I washed my hands and sat down with the rest of the family.
When dinner was over, and my mom was cutting the pie she looked with her usual smile, which turned to horror, as if I was bleeding. “Davey!” she screamed. “What on earth do you have all over your face? It’s all red and puffy. And your arms?” She came over to examine me more closely. “Davey, it’s all over your face, and neck and arms. Oh my God!”
It was poison ivy!