Day 42—Friday

Chieko handed me two letters at rest hour. One was in my dad’s chicken scratch handwriting, and the other was in Angel’s. I was definitely saving the best for last, so I slid Angel’s under my pillow and opened the envelope from my dad first.

Dear Vic,

How’s camp? It’s hard to believe it’s August already. I miss you. Not coming up on Visiting Day was harder than I thought it would be.

I’m still in California. There’s enough work to do out here that I volunteered to stay a while. I remember the report you did on earthquakes in third grade. According to the map you made, I’m not near a fault line.

Anyway, it made sense for me to stay here, since work covers my hotel room, and your mom and I still need time to figure things out. I know this must be upsetting and confusing to you. I’m sorry. I don’t know what else to say, because it’s upsetting and confusing to me, too.

Give Freddy a big hug for me.

Love you,

Dad

Aside from my dad admitting he thought it would be easy to not see me for the entire summer, it was an okay letter. At least I knew where he was now, and I could tell my mom if she hadn’t already found out. And knowing that he was upset and confused, and that he felt bad enough to apologize for it, automatically made me feel less mad at him.

He included a P.S.

P.S. Here’s a take-out menu from a pizza place by my hotel. Thought you might be able to turn it into stationery for a future Carly letter.

I unfolded the long red menu. The front of it said ARTY PIZZERIA—Make Every Meal a Masterpiece, but my dad had penned a capital F right in front of the A in ARTY. I couldn’t not smile at that. Fart jokes were more Freddy’s department than mine, but at least he tried. It let me know that no matter what was going on between my parents, I still had a dad who cared about me.

It also made me hungry for pizza.

I tucked his letter and menu back into the envelope and walked it over to my cubby, then climbed back onto my bed. Jordana was in the shower, belting out a Hamilton song, and the Jaidas were visiting their camp sisters again, so I had the room to myself. When I broke open the envelope from Angel, two things came out—a white card with the Ramos Family Flowers logo stamped across the top and another sealed envelope. The second envelope said, Read the card first.

Dear Vic,

I took the flat mail thing as a personal challenge. I wanted to send you flowers, but I know that’s not allowed, so my best attempt is inside the smaller envelope. Hope you like it.

See you soon,

Angel

I slid my finger under the flap to open it. There was no paper inside. I turned the envelope upside down and a shower of pink, white, and yellow flower petals—at least fifty of them!—rained down on my lap. The petals were different shapes and sizes, all dried and smooth and pressed flat. I scooped them up and let them fall again, watching them twist and turn as they fluttered like feathers back onto my lap.

It was the best flat mail I’d ever seen.