Upside Down in the Middle of Nowhere by Julie T. Lamana

indeed,” she said. I picked the last few strands of muck out of her hair. She reached up with her hand and refluffed her real hair till it looked normal. “Come sit back down,” Memaw said, tapping the seat beside her where Kheelin’s name was carved in the wood.
    â€œI want to sit with you too, Memaw.” Sealy came butting right in, like always. Memaw scooched over and made room.
    Memaw leaned in close to my ear and whispered, “We’ll talk about your cousin’s mama later.” She rubbed my leg and pushed off with her feet, sending the chair into a swing. I let out a loud sigh. Memaw pushed Sealy’s head down onto her other shoulder and went to waving her fan again.
Whatever
. Sometimes I hated having brothers and sisters.
    I took my finger and traced the letters of my dead Uncle Shelton’s name carved into the arm of the swing. S-H-E-L . . .
    â€œHow many hurricanes have you been in, Memaw?”
    Sealy and her stupid questions
.
    â€œOh, my, more than I care to remember.”
    â€œReally?” Sealy sat up and faced Memaw. “What’s it like?”
    I kept on tracing the letters, but I put my focus on my ears.
    â€œWell, every storm is different,” Memaw said. “They’ve all got their own personality, I guess you could say. Some aren’t so bad: Ya get some rain, some wind—might even lose electricity. And others, well, others you just get down on your knees and thank the good Lord ya came out on the other side alive.” Memaw had that faraway look in her eyes. Her body somehow got heavier on the swing.
    â€œWhat kinda storm do you suppose Katrina’s gonna be?” I asked. “You figure it’ll be one of them get-down-on-your-knees storms?”
    Memaw planted her feet so fast I had to grab hold of the arm of the chair to keep from flying out and landing on my head. “Child, don’t you even
think
that!” Memaw looked straight into my eyes with her face all ugly-scrunched. She squeezed her eyes shut, mumbled some words to the Lord, took in a big suck of air, and pushed it out with such force it caused her lips to vibrate.
    Then, just as quick as ice melts in August, she settled back in the chair. The fan went back to fanning, and her face smoothed out. She gave the concrete a nudge and we went to swinging again.
    Memaw pushed my head down on her shoulder, forgetting to be gentle about it, and patted my leg. “We’re gonna be fine. Yes, indeed. We’re gonna be just fine.” I blinked about fifty times and breathed in some of that thick, muggy air.

    After Mama and Daddy got back from the store, the sky felt alive. It had turned a dark, pink-orangey-brown color. It was pretty, but I got to thinking how I ain’t never seen that color painted across the sky before. It was like God was right on the other side of them colors. I shivered.

    Looking at the black of the night through my bedroom window made me worry about what might be out there that I
couldn’t
see. Usually I don’t like sharing the bed with Sealy, but right then, I was grateful to have the feel of her up next to me.
    I was all but sound asleep when Sealy threw back the sheet, hopped out of bed, and grabbed her book sack off the stack of stuffed animals piled in the corner. She opened the sack, looked inside, zipped it up, put it on her back, then jumped back into bed.
    â€œSealy, what are you doin’?” I yelled in a whisper.
    â€œNothing, Armani, go to sleep.”
    â€œWhat do you mean
nothing
? You can’t be bringin’ that ol’ dirty bag of yours in my bed!” I started pulling back the sheet to make it easier for her to get up. But Sealy wasn’t moving.
    â€œFirst of all, my book sack isn’t dirty, Armani. And, second, it’s my bed too. Just go to sleep.”
    Sealy must’ve bumped her head
. She took that bag with her everywhere, but she sure never brought it to bed.