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MIA PUSHED AWAY MEMORIES of what happened when Camden came into her bedroom at the foster home the night before. She twisted a strand of her long, dark hair and stared anxiously out the school bus window. All day long she’d felt sick thinking about what awaited her tonight. When school let out, she’d sneaked onto this bus instead of her own. There were only four other kids on board now. None of the earlier stops had felt right, so she’d stayed where she was, sitting several seats behind the girl named Kinsey, who’d invited her to join other third-graders in a game during recess. The bus slowed and Kinsey grabbed her backpack and slid to the edge of the seat, prompting Mia to do the same. The stop sign on the side of the bus went out and the brakes squeaked as it slowed.
“See you guys tomorrow,” said the driver as they filed out. Mia tried to hide behind an older boy, but the driver stopped her as she passed. “Hold on a sec.” He handed her a piece of paper. “Have your mom fill this out and sign it before tomorrow.”
“Okay.” She grabbed it and hurried down the steps. The other kids raced toward a trailer park and she stared after them. Kinsey laughed and ran alongside a boy who looked to be her big brother. Unsure what to do now that she’d left the safe haven of the school bus, Mia started their direction, stopping short when she saw the old man.
He waved at her from one of those chairs you could fold up and take places. He had something in his mouth, a long stick-looking thing. Smoke curled from the big end and coiled from his mouth after he sucked on it. His trailer was a bright shade of green, making it stand out from all the rest. An old blue truck was parked in the driveway nearby, one of the doors an ugly gray color.
The kids rounded the corner, horsing around. The old man waved again. “Come say hello, honey.” It was a hot day but a cold feeling crept up her legs and she hurried the other direction.
A few classmates at school had cell phones. She’d thought about stealing one so she could call her dad and find out what happened. Then he’d come get her and they’d go back to the motel. It wasn’t as good as the place they’d lived near the Smiley Branch Library, but they’d done okay. He wasn’t sick anymore and they sometimes had money for pizza. But stealing was wrong. He’d made her promise to never do that so she wouldn’t end up in jail like her mom.
Mia glanced around. There were no houses here. Just a building with a high fence in front that protected lots of motorcycles and other stuff. Across from there was a place called Smile and Relax Therapy. She wandered that way, not completely sure about that last word, but the first three sounded pretty good. Her dad always told her to relax and things would work out.
A big dog barked from behind the fence near the motorcycles, startling Mia. It didn’t look like he could get out so she gave all of herself to looking at the other place. Daddy always said to do that—to give all of herself and she’d do just fine. That burning feeling came in her stomach at the thought of him. Where had he gone? Maybe he got hurt at work and was all alone in some hospital. Mia blinked away tears so she could see clearly. She’d just turned to go up the sidewalk toward the smile place when a man came out.
He smiled a fake kind of smile. “Hey, cutie. How was school today?” His long legs brought him close really fast and her heart began to pound. She stepped back when he reached out to touch her hair. “What’s wrong, sugar?” He pulled a set of keys from his pocket. A long blond ponytail snaked down his back. He was taller and a lot bigger than her dad. “Are you lost? Do you need a ride home?” He tilted his head toward a beat up green car. “Come on.”
Mia fled, her hair flying behind her like a dark cape, her backpack bouncing around on her shoulders. He called out, offering to help and she ignored him. She also ignored the snarling dog running inside the fence. Somehow she’d crossed the street without even looking. The dog had big teeth, black eyes and a short stubby tail. When she was far enough away that he finally shut up, she slowed to a walk. Her breath came fast and her legs were on fire. A look over her shoulder confirmed the man hadn’t followed. She went to the corner where the sign read Colfax Ave. Three rows of cars sped past on each side of the street and there was no light for crossing.
Mia turned around. A red brick building sat on the corner with a sign sticking out above the entrance. Grady’s. The other side of the building had Karaoke Every Tuesday Night painted in enormous red letters atop a white rectangle. She walked over and peeked through the glass. There were only a few people inside so she opened the front door and went in.
It smelled good and her stomach made a loud noise. Before her dad disappeared, she always had a snack after school before starting her homework. Mrs. D kept a lot of great snacks at the foster home. She’d shown them to Mia after the social worker had dropped her off the day before. They’d made Mia’s mouth water at the time since she’d had nothing to eat for twenty-four hours. Her daddy hadn’t come home from work the morning before. Hadn’t cashed his check and bought food like he did every Saturday. The manager had found her alone in the motel room when it was time to pay the rent the next day. But even if she had to go hungry again, Mia would never go back to Mrs. D’s house because Camden was there. He said he wasn’t a foster child so he could do whatever he wanted.
“Come on in.” A smiling woman with a pencil tucked behind her ear and a pad of paper in her hand waved Mia in. “Just one?”
Mia nodded and glanced around. Tables with fake wood grain tops made up rows like desks in a classroom. The ones in the middle of the room were square shaped and had chairs. Those along the walls were rectangles with cushy black benches. The place was clean and the music wasn’t loud, so she’d be able to think. “I’m waiting for my dad to pick me up. Could I start my homework?” She looked outside, pretending to check for his car. Thing was, her dad didn’t own a car. Besides stealing, Daddy said lying was wrong. And she’d done a lot of that today.
“Of course. I’ll put you over here where it’s quiet.” The woman, whose nametag read Sydney, led her to a booth in the back. “Tell me what your daddy looks like and I’ll keep an eye out.”
She’d never had to describe him before. They shared the same dark hair and green eyes. Having lied to the woman made Mia feel nervous, so all she said was, “He looks like me but his hair is like that guy’s.” She pointed to a man in a red T-shirt who sat on a stool in front of a long counter. He glanced over and smiled at Mia.
“Got it.” The woman went away.
Mia unzipped her backpack. Even if she couldn’t get anything done in this place with the food smelling so good and her being so hungry, she figured she should at least pretend. As had happened often the past few days, worry about her dad brought fresh tears to her eyes. She took a napkin from the dispenser and wiped them away. Then she scrunched it up and stuck it in her pack so Sydney wouldn’t ask her to pay for it.
James and the Giant Peach didn’t look so bad. When her new teacher gave her the book, she’d explained that the class was on chapter seven. She’d asked Mia how long she thought it would take to get caught up and her eyes got big when Mia said she’d be caught up tomorrow. Reading was her favorite thing in all the world. She opened the book and began chapter one, finding she didn’t have to pretend after all.
Even though no one told her to, every time she came to a word she didn’t know, she wrote it down in her notebook so she could look it up later. James and the Giant Peach had a lot of interesting words. Today, she did more than just write down the ones that stood out.
Nuisance. Being hungry is a nuisance. Especially when you don’t have money for food.
Ramshackle. “Ramshackle. Ramshackle,” she whispered, trying it out.
Desolate. It sounded familiar, but she couldn’t remember for sure. Something kind of sad.
Hideous. What it felt like when Camden touched me.
Luminous. Something to do with light. Or the moon?
Seething. Angry?
The story made her forget everything else and by the time she realized she needed to use the bathroom, she was already on chapter six, where the peach was becoming enormous. When she got back to her table, the man in the red shirt was sitting there. It wasn’t only his hair that made him look like her dad; he was the same size—tall and thin. Mia stood still, not sure what to do. She eyed her belongings. There was no way to reach them from where she stood.
“Thought you might be hungry.” Smiling, he pushed a plate mounded with French fries and a sandwich across the table. Mia’s stomach growled again.