Bank Job by James Heneghan Read Free Book Online

“Nell is hungry, that’s all.” She smiled at me. “Eat up, kiddo,” she said.
    Somehow, I wasn’t hungry any more. My appetite had been squelched.
    I was practically a failure at school, and now I couldn’t even eat spaghetti properly, according to Mr.Pain-in-the-butt-perfect Tom Okada. I glared at him and picked at a meatball.
    He pissed me off sometimes. He’s so smart, straight-A student, math guru, physics genius. I’d heard him at school debating with his nerdy friends about something called string theory, not to mention particle theory, black hole theory, and quacks and quinks theory. Pain-in-the-butt theory is what he’s best at if you ask me.
    When supper was over there was nothing left of the spaghetti and meatballs. As I cleared the table, I covered my plate with the salad bowl so Janice wouldn’t notice I’d eaten practically nothing.
    Lisa took Pumpkin into bed with her.
    I told her, “Pumpkin sleeps in his box on the floor.”
    â€œBut why can’t he sleep with me? He’s so tiny. What if he gets cold during the night?”
    â€œThere’s a warm blanket in his box, remember? He’ll be fine.”
    â€œBut what if he’s lonely all by himself?”
    â€œHe won’t be lonely. We’re right here if he needs us.”
    â€œBut…”
    â€œSweetie, a kitten needs to be trained. Janice says the way you start him off in life is important.”
    â€œIs it okay if I just hold him while you read to me? I’m sure he’ll like the story of the Golden Fleece.”
    â€œYes, but when we’re finished he goes right back into his own bed, okay?”
    I often read to Lisa at bedtime. We were working our way through a book of ancient gods and heroes. She liked reading on her own, but she liked it more if I read to her.
    She was slated for an operation in a month or so. She’d had a lot of really bad sore throats all winter, so the doctor said her tonsils should come out.
    She was worried. It was the idea of going to hospital. She had never stayed in a hospital before. I didn’t blame her for being worried. Hospitals can be scary.
    She had been with the Hardys the longest of all of us, at least three years. After her parents died in a boating accident when she was four, she was sent to live with a foster family who made her sleep in a dark scary basement all by herself. That was probably why she hated sleeping alone. Also they had an older daughter who was mean to her. After a couple of years, the mother in the family got sick, so Lisa ended up at the Hardys’.
    Janice told me that Lisa’s mom and dad had come from El Salvador as refugees. Lisa probably inherited her beautiful black curly hair from her mom. Janice said that Lisa’s grandfather in El Salvador was really old and there was no one else to look after Lisa, so she became a foster kid.
    â€œDo you remember your mom and dad at all?” I asked her.
    â€œNot much.” She started to shake her head, but stopped and held her head really still like she didn’t want to disturb a memory. “Sometimes in the night, I wake up and I can remember a nice warm feeling, like I’m sitting in my mom’s lap. It’s so warm and soft and she’s hugging and kissing me and I’m snuggling right in. Sometimes when I smell a certain kind of flower, I get that cozy warm feeling too. Maybe that’s how she smelled. Real sweet, like that flower maybe?”
    â€œWhat about your dad? What do you remember about him?”
    â€œHe used to give me rides on his shoulders, and it felt so safe up there with him holding my legs tight. I could see everything, like I was the boss of the world, or the queen of England, or something…” Her voice trailed off and she buried her face in the kitten’s fur.
    She looked so sad. I wanted to cheer her up.
    â€œLet’s see if Jason will ever find that golden fleece,” I said,