Chapter 9
Zach sat at the desk in the back corner of the family room and waited for the computer to finish loading. The smell of cooking came from the kitchen, where he could hear his mother bustling about — the clang of a pot placed on the stove, water running in the old porcelain sink, a knife thunking against the wooden cutting board as she chopped vegetables for Sunday night’s dinner.
Grandpa, loose and rumpled-looking, lounged on the tan-colored couch nearby, watching television. Though Zach couldn’t see the screen from where he was, he could hear the sounds of baseball coming from it — the resonant voice of the announcers, the crack of the bat, the roar of the crowd.
“Grandpa, is that your favorite sport?”
“It’s the only thing on right now. I prefer college football.”
“So did my dad. He liked the Wolfpack of North Carolina State. That’s where I’m gonna go. I’m gonna major in architecture and live in Raleigh, just like Dad.”
He looked over his shoulder at Grandpa, who had his mouth open as if he were going to respond, but he clamped his jaw shut and stared at the television, narrow-eyed and suddenly stiff. Zach’s mother appeared in the doorway on the opposite wall, holding an oven mitt, watching Grandpa closely, as if she wondered what his answer would be, too.
After several tense seconds, she retreated back into the kitchen and Zach thought, What’s that all about? “Don’t you think that’s a good idea, Grandpa? For me to go to N.C. State?”
“Yeah, that’s great,” he grumbled without looking at Zach. “Just fine and dandy. Like your dad.” He pressed the remote, cranking up the sound on the television.
“Can you turn that thing down?” Zach’s mother called from the kitchen. “It’s too loud.”
The volume dropped again, and Zach realized that he’d been biting his bottom lip, hard, and it hurt. I hope they don’t fuss during dinner.
He loaded Facebook on the computer and began scrolling down, looking for anything interesting from his friends. He’d hoped for a few messages from some of them, but there weren’t any at all.
Maybe it’s because it’s summer and they’re all on vacation. He didn’t want to believe that they were forgetting him already. It’s only been a couple weeks or so, hasn’t it?
He crossed his arms and stared at the discouraging display on the monitor. Then he had an idea. “Grandpa,” he said, “Emily’s last name is Ogletree, isn’t it?”
“If you’re talking about your cousin, it is.”
Zach typed her name in the search box and got a handful of results, but he didn’t know which one could’ve been her. “Think she’s got a Facebook page?”
“I don’t know what that is.”
“Sure you do. We talked about that before. Everybody’s knows about it.”
“I don’t.”
“Come here and you can see.” His grandfather got up slowly from the couch with a grunt and a grimace and joined Zach, standing by his side while Zach gave him a quick demonstration of the wonders of social media. “Just about everybody’s on Facebook, Grandpa. I bet a lot of your friends are.”
“They’re too old for this stuff.”
“No they’re not. Name one of your good friends, maybe one who doesn’t live here anymore. I bet I can find him.”
“All right.” Grandpa rubbed a knuckle against his jaw, peppered with gray stubble, and stared at the screen. “Try Bucky Parsons.”
Zach typed in the name and got several results. “Any of these guys look familiar?”
Grandpa leaned over Zach’s shoulder for a closer look, then pointed. “That looks like him, that guy in St. Petersburg. He’s a lot older than I remember, though.”
Zach clicked on the image thumbnail and the page appeared. Grandpa studied it carefully before nodding. “Yeah, that’s gotta be him.” He stood up straight and put his hands on his hips. “I’ll be danged. That’s Bucky, right there.”
“Do you want to send him a message?”
“Uh…I don’t know what to say.”
“Say anything, like, hi, what’s up?”
“Maybe later, but durn! Maybe I should get me a computer.”
“Or you could use ours. You eat here almost every night anyway. Want me to help you set up your page?”
“Some other time. Let’s see what your cousin Emily is up to.”
Zach typed in her name again, and Grandpa pointed at one of the results and said, “The one in Seattle. I bet that’s her.”
Zack clicked it, but was disappointed in what came up. “Looks like she only shares with her friends. I’ll send her a request and see if she accepts it, but it could take a day or so.” His grandfather started to go back to the couch. Zach had another idea. “Hey, Grandpa, would it be okay if I took Beepee to the woods with us tomorrow?”
Grandpa stopped and faced him again. “You and your friends? Boy, I don’t know. I’m afraid she’ll run off and get lost.”
“I’ll keep her on the leash the whole time, I promise. It’ll be fun for her. Otherwise she’ll have to stay by herself most of the day ’cause you gotta work.”
“Let me talk to your mom about it, and I’ll let you know.”
“Dogs have really good hearing and sense of smell, don’t they?”
“That’s what I’m told.”
“Do you think Beepee would know if there were other animals around?”
“Depends. What kind of animals? Squirrels and deer and stuff?”
No, bears. “Yeah, and rabbits or whatever.”
“Are those two boys going to shoot them with their BB guns?”
“Not if the animals get scared off, first. Beepee would probably bark a lot, don’t you think? That should give them plenty of warning.”
Grandpa inhaled slowly, then said, “I suppose it would be okay, but only if you keep her on the leash the whole time. And I still want to talk to your mom about it. She’s the boss.”