How I Lost You by Janet Gurtler Read Free Book Online

them.
    â€œI just felt your grandmother shudder in heaven,” Dad said. “But…”
    â€œShe never understood our family.” We all finished the sentence with him. Even James. He’d hung around my family enough to hear that a million times. My grandma had been an ultra-conservative woman who believed soap in the mouth was the way to clean out bad words. My mom would have gone through a bar a week. Mom and Grandma were total opposites, and while in many ways I’d craved a more affectionate and cuddly mom—one more like my grandma—I knew my mom had my back.
    I stuck my fork in the ear of a monkey pancake and Indie and James smothered theirs in syrup and sang the traditional Saturday morning “Monkey Pancake” song to the tune of “Twinkle Twinkle Little Star.”
    Monkey pancakes are so great,
    Pile some pancakes on my plate.
    â€œOkay, James, Indie,” I said. They sang louder.
    Up above the pancake pile,
    Pour some syrup, make me smile.
    Monkey pancakes are so great,
    Pile some pancakes on my plate.
    â€œI made up that song when I was five,” I said. “We should really let it go.”
    â€œSongstress just like your mama,” Mom said, batting her eyelashes and then biting into a slice of crispy bacon.
    â€œThe problem with this table is too many freaks and not enough circuses,” I said.
    â€œBut there are flying monkeys.” James tossed a monkey pancake in the air and it landed on my plate.
    Dad joined us and soon we were busy mixing and sopping up syrup and ketchup and buttery toast in a giant feeding frenzy. After the carb load and some groaning and stomach patting, we all helped clean up the messy kitchen. Soon Mom and Dad were off to another Latin dance class.
    â€œYou going out?” Mom called, her hand on the front door.
    â€œHot yoga later.”
    â€œAll right. Your dad and I will probably go out with the Simpsons for dinner. You can fix yourself something? Don’t wait up.” She laughed as she closed the door behind her, but the truth was they usually stayed out later than me.
    â€œYou working this afternoon?” I asked James.
    â€œNope.” He headed back toward the living room for the Nintendo. “Robert is. He’s hot, right?”
    James liked to check in sometimes on other guys’ hotness quotients. Trying to figure out what girls liked, maybe. Robert was a semi-pro baller and he ran Splatterfest most weekends.
    â€œVery hot. But he’s too old to go out with you.”
    â€œWow, Grace. That was as low as your brother’s IQ.”
    â€œI heard that, James,” Indie called from the kitchen.
    â€œYou were supposed to.” James sat on the floor, crossing his legs like a kindergartener. “You want to go first?”
    â€œGo ahead.”
    He turned on the game and waited.
    â€œYou want to come to hot yoga with me later?” I asked, and plunked down on the floor beside him, bopping my head along to the catchy Super Mario theme song.
    â€œWhat? Running around playing speedball isn’t enough of a work-out for you?” He glanced at me as if I were crazy.
    â€œYoga relaxes me,” I said.
    He picked up the controller as the game started up, not answering my original question.
    â€œI take it that means no.”
    â€œThanks for asking, but when have I ever expressed a desire to go to hot yoga?”
    â€œThink of all the ladies there, James,” Indie called as he bounded up the stairs. “Maybe not taking advantage of situations is one of the reasons you haven’t gotten laid.”
    We both ignored him as he cackled away to himself on his way to his room.
    The Super Mario game dinged as James ate up some coins. I stretched my feet out and lay back on the floor beside him, holding my bloated stomach. “Have you talked to Kya today?”
    â€œNot since work.”
    â€œI wish you two would make up already.”
    â€œDream big, Graceling.