A Soft Place to Land by Susan Rebecca White Read Free Book Online

Julia had been drinking, and she did not want to be the victim of a drunk-driving accident. Just that year she had read
Izzy, Willy-Nilly
, a novel about a girl who was paralyzed from the waist down after being in a drunk-driving accident.
    “Will you let me drive?” Ruthie asked.
    “You’re thirteen.”
    “You’ve let me drive in the Baptist parking lot before,” said Ruthie. “It’s easy.”
    Walt covered his ears with his hands. “I’m going to pretend I know nothing about this conversation,” he said.
    Julia motioned toward the side door with her head. “First let’s get out of here,” she said.

    Telling no one besides Walt that they were leaving, Ruthie and Julia slipped out the door in the sunporch that led to the side yard where Naomi had her herb garden, which was overrun with rosemary and mint. Ducking past windows, they walked to the front of the house and then ran as fast as they could down the driveway.
    “Which way?” asked Ruthie at the foot of the drive.
    “This way,” said Julia, a little breathless but still running. She turned right on Wymberly Way, and they ran down the street to where Julia had parked her car. Ruthie wondered if her sister had purposefully parked the Saab far away, where it wouldn’t be noticed, if she had been planning to sneak out of the memorial, to visit Jake Robinson perhaps, though he had not even bothered to show up for the service.
    It was a sunny day, blue sky, warm. The tall trees overhead had tiny buds on their branches, and all over birds were calling back and forth.
    “You really want to drive?” asked Julia, winded from running.
    Ruthie nodded emphatically. Suddenly there was nothing else she would rather do.
    Ruthie was creeping down Wymberly Way going 15 miles an hour, her seat pushed so far up that her body was scrunched against the steering wheel. Julia had insisted. Otherwise, Julia said, Ruthie wouldn’t be able to reach the pedals.
    “I’m as tall as you,” Ruthie had said.
    “Au contraire
, my
frère
,” said Julia.
    Ruthie was scared to be behind the wheel, to be controlling Julia’s Saab, but also, she was thrilled.
    “Sweetie, you are going to get pulled over for going this slow,” said Julia. “You’ve got to speed up.”
    Ruthie pressed hard on the accelerator and the car leapt forward.
    “Jesus,” murmured Julia. Ruthie smiled. In a weird way, she was enjoying herself.
    “Do you know where your turn signal is?” asked Julia.
    Ruthie nodded.
    “Okay, slow down—no, not like that. Don’t slam on the brake. Be gentle. Gently press on the brake. Okay, good. We are going to come to a complete stop. Now put on your turn signal. We’re going left.”
    Ruthie did as she was told.
    “Look both ways. Do you see any cars coming? In either direction? Okay, repeat after me: S-T-O-P-one-two-three. That’s what my driver’s ed teacher said to say every time you reach a stop sign.”
    “S-T-O-P-one-two-three,” said Ruthie.
    “Now you can turn.”
    She turned, driving slowly down Peachtree Battle Avenue, passing gracious homes and old trees, women in shiny warm-up outfits walking speedily along the sidewalk, their arms curling weights while they moved.
    “There’s a car behind you, Ruthie, and he’s not driving like a ninety-year-old lady, so you are going to have to either pull over or speed up.”
    Ruthie pressed on the gas and the needle on the speedometerclimbed to 40. She was driving, really driving, on a real road, not in the parking lot of the Second Ponce de Leon Baptist Church.
    “They’re going to make me live with Dad and Peggy,” said Julia. “In Virden. And Aunt Mimi is going to take you with her to San Francisco. At least that’s what Mimi thinks is in the will. She says we’ll know for sure tomorrow, once the lawyer comes to read it.”
    Ruthie felt dizzy, nauseated. She was breathing fast little breaths, like she still did every time she was on a plane that hit turbulence. She lifted her foot from the