On Tuesday night, Mom and Beth go at it again, their angry voices booming up the stairs. I perch on the top step, listening.
“Those tires aren’t safe. You need new ones.”
“I know, Mom. Soon as I can, I’ll get them.”
“I could scrape up a little to help out, but . . .”
“Chill out, Mom. I can take care of it myself. Remember, I have a part-time job lined up.”
“Still, it’s a long way to Colorado.”
“These tires will get me there.”
Silence signals a truce. It’s safe to go downstairs.
“Oh, morning, Sammy.” Mom turns as I walk into the room. “When you’re through with breakfast, I could use some help. Meet me in the shed?”
“Okay.”
I put a frozen waffle in the toaster and take butter and jelly from the refrigerator. “Heard you and Mom talking. You know, ’bout tires.” I glance at Beth out of the corner of my eye. “You do need some new ones.”
“Like I don’t know that.” Beth snorts. “But it just isn’t gonna happen. Not unless you know someone with deep pockets.”
“Yeah, well, maybe I do.”
“Oh, yeah?” A cynical laugh replaces the snorting. “Who?”
“Me.” I spread a waffle with butter and grape jelly.
“Right. Help me with something.” Beth looks to the side, pretending she’s trying to remember something. “Didn’t you hit me up for a loan a few weeks ago?”
She stops talking and stares at me. “You offering to loan me what you made?”
“That, and the other ninety I already had saved.” I lick jelly off the spoon. “Got a hundred sixty-five bucks. Well, a hundred fifty. Spent some at the movies and might need a little more before summer’s over. Not enough for four new tires, but you could get retreads.”
Hazel-colored eyes glisten. “Hold up.” She wipes her eyes with her sleeve. “You’ve been saving up to buy that puppy from Kendall’s Kennels. What happened?”
“She’s already sold the last one. But it’s okay.”
Beth looks at me. “Okay?”
I tell her about Justin. How he called me a loser. How I was going to make him the loser. How Siegfried got hurt. Twice. How Bruno died.
“Mrs. Kendall said she admired me for earning my own money for a puppy, but . . .” A huge lump forms in my throat. “But I don’t feel very admirable. I’d really like to give you the money for the tires.”
She sits down with me and eats jelly off a spoon. “It’ll be a loan. I’ll pay you back as soon as I can and you can keep adding to it until you have enough to buy a puppy. Look at it as a puppy on installments.”
“Well, uh, I was thinking about other kinds of payback?”
Her eyes narrow to slits. “Like what?”
The lump in my throat dissolves. Words flood out. “It’s Mom. She’s going to expect me to be just like you, and I’m not. I can never be as smart as you. And Rosie, she’s always doing these dumb things, asking these dumb questions. And she’s getting to be a real wiseass. I won’t know how to keep her out of trouble. And then there’s . . .”
Beth waits.
I sigh. “Girls. I think I’m going to have a lot of questions about girls. You know, the kind you can’t ask your mom?”
Beth laughs so hard, tears come to her eyes. “I’m only a phone call away. And my advice is free, so I will pay you back eventually. But it may take a while.”
“Cool.”
“And stop putting yourself down, you’re a smart guy.” She gives me a smothering hug. “You’ll do just fine after I’m gone. And one day, you’ll get your puppy. I can feel it in my bones.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
Aww, man. Now I wish I hadn’t thrown my scrapbook away.