home?”
“Noper.”
“Where is she?”
“She just left for aerobics.”
“How long ago?”
“I don’t know. Ten minutes?”
That was bad. She wouldn’t be reachable for another hour and a half at least. Aerobics class was one of the few times their mom was completely incommunicado.
“Okay, thanks.”
“Are you coming home?” Paula asked.
“I’m working on it.” He hung up and tried to think who to call next. Maybe Jerry. He started to dial but was interrupted by the counter woman.
“I didn’t say you could call the whole phone book. I only have three hundred minutes a month.”
Wes handed her the phone.
Ordinarily, June liked driving her mom’s BMW, but the trip to the SA with the streets all slippery and snow blowing across the roads was no fun at all, not even in an arctic adventure sort of way. The extreme cold made her think of outer space. Even in deepest space, Mr. Reinhardt said, there was no true vacuum. There might be only one or two atoms per cubic meter of space, but there wasalways
something.
Atoms were running into each other all the time, like snowflakes. And in a few billion or trillion or centillion years, the Big Bang would reverse direction and atoms would start colliding more often, and eventually they would all be drawn into a single tiny node where every atom in the universe was touching every other atom, and time would stop. According to Mr. Reinhardt, this was called the Big Crunch, when the entire universe became an infinitesimal dot. And then the Big Bang would happen all over again. She found that reassuring — that no matter how messed up the universe got, it would eventually have another chance to get it right.
She was thinking about that as she pulled into the SA and got out and walked through the door.
A girl wearing an enormous down ski parka, fogged-up glasses, and a pink hat with a long tassel entered in a swirl of wind and snow. She walked past Wes, heading for the cooler at the back of the store. She stopped in front of the juice section. It was hard not to look at her, with that hat. The tassel hung all the way down to her thighs, ending in a fuzzy pink ball.
“You kids,” said the counter woman. “You think she ever gets that thing caught in a door?”
The girl grabbed a half gallon of orange juice from the cooler. When she turned around, coming back toward the register, Wes recognized her.
“Hey, June,” he said.
June pulled up, startled, and dropped the juice. Both she and Wes bent over quickly to get the carton and they banged heads so hard that Wes fell to his knees and, for a second, thought he wasgoing to pass out. He reached up to touch his forehead, expecting to find a bloody mess. There was no blood, but the lump was already forming. June had fallen back on her butt and was sitting with one pink-nailed hand cupped over her left eye.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she said.
CHAPTER
TEN
“L ET ME SEE, ” SAID W ES, kneeling in front of her. He gently grasped her wrist and moved her hand away from her eye. He could see right away where his forehead had hit her cheekbone, just below her left eye. It seemed important to get her off the floor, which was dirty and wet from people tracking snow into the store.
“Can you stand up?” he asked.
“I think so.”
Wes helped her to her feet.
“My glasses,” she said. They found her glasses a few feet away. One lens was cracked and the frames were bent. “They’re crunched.” June folded them and put them in the pocket of her parka.
“I’m really sorry,” Wes said.
“We crunched.”
“Uh … yeah, we did. I’m sorry.”
“Do I need to call nine-one-one?” asked the woman behind the counter.
“I don’t … I need to look at my face,” June said.
The woman pointed toward the back of the store. Wes, still holding her hand, started walking her toward the restrooms, but June shook him off.
“I can walk,” she said.
Wes watched her go. He noticed that
“Noper.”
“Where is she?”
“She just left for aerobics.”
“How long ago?”
“I don’t know. Ten minutes?”
That was bad. She wouldn’t be reachable for another hour and a half at least. Aerobics class was one of the few times their mom was completely incommunicado.
“Okay, thanks.”
“Are you coming home?” Paula asked.
“I’m working on it.” He hung up and tried to think who to call next. Maybe Jerry. He started to dial but was interrupted by the counter woman.
“I didn’t say you could call the whole phone book. I only have three hundred minutes a month.”
Wes handed her the phone.
Ordinarily, June liked driving her mom’s BMW, but the trip to the SA with the streets all slippery and snow blowing across the roads was no fun at all, not even in an arctic adventure sort of way. The extreme cold made her think of outer space. Even in deepest space, Mr. Reinhardt said, there was no true vacuum. There might be only one or two atoms per cubic meter of space, but there wasalways
something.
Atoms were running into each other all the time, like snowflakes. And in a few billion or trillion or centillion years, the Big Bang would reverse direction and atoms would start colliding more often, and eventually they would all be drawn into a single tiny node where every atom in the universe was touching every other atom, and time would stop. According to Mr. Reinhardt, this was called the Big Crunch, when the entire universe became an infinitesimal dot. And then the Big Bang would happen all over again. She found that reassuring — that no matter how messed up the universe got, it would eventually have another chance to get it right.
She was thinking about that as she pulled into the SA and got out and walked through the door.
A girl wearing an enormous down ski parka, fogged-up glasses, and a pink hat with a long tassel entered in a swirl of wind and snow. She walked past Wes, heading for the cooler at the back of the store. She stopped in front of the juice section. It was hard not to look at her, with that hat. The tassel hung all the way down to her thighs, ending in a fuzzy pink ball.
“You kids,” said the counter woman. “You think she ever gets that thing caught in a door?”
The girl grabbed a half gallon of orange juice from the cooler. When she turned around, coming back toward the register, Wes recognized her.
“Hey, June,” he said.
June pulled up, startled, and dropped the juice. Both she and Wes bent over quickly to get the carton and they banged heads so hard that Wes fell to his knees and, for a second, thought he wasgoing to pass out. He reached up to touch his forehead, expecting to find a bloody mess. There was no blood, but the lump was already forming. June had fallen back on her butt and was sitting with one pink-nailed hand cupped over her left eye.
“Are you okay?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she said.
CHAPTER
TEN
“L ET ME SEE, ” SAID W ES, kneeling in front of her. He gently grasped her wrist and moved her hand away from her eye. He could see right away where his forehead had hit her cheekbone, just below her left eye. It seemed important to get her off the floor, which was dirty and wet from people tracking snow into the store.
“Can you stand up?” he asked.
“I think so.”
Wes helped her to her feet.
“My glasses,” she said. They found her glasses a few feet away. One lens was cracked and the frames were bent. “They’re crunched.” June folded them and put them in the pocket of her parka.
“I’m really sorry,” Wes said.
“We crunched.”
“Uh … yeah, we did. I’m sorry.”
“Do I need to call nine-one-one?” asked the woman behind the counter.
“I don’t … I need to look at my face,” June said.
The woman pointed toward the back of the store. Wes, still holding her hand, started walking her toward the restrooms, but June shook him off.
“I can walk,” she said.
Wes watched her go. He noticed that
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