Dream With Little Angels by Michael Hiebert Read Free Book Online

suppose, made him our great uncle, but we still called him Uncle Henry anyway. He was Uncle Henry to a lot of people we knew. Even people his birth had nothing to do with. Seemed like the only person who called him Hank was my mother.
    Uncle Henry pointed to Carry. “I see my little sugarplum’s not her regular sweet self this morning.”
    â€œOh, never mind her,” my mother said, picking up a towel from the counter. “She’s been in a mood goin’ on six months now. I think it’s boys.” She whispered the last part, but not near quiet enough for neither me nor Carry not to hear.
    â€œYou don’t know nothin’ about my life, Mother!” Carry snapped, her eyes still fixed halfway on the tabletop between us, her arms still tightly wrapped together.
    My mother rolled her eyes at Uncle Henry. “Apparently I know nothin’ ’bout her life. I only grew her in my womb for nine months and spent the last fifteen years puttin’ bandages on her scrapes and makin’ sure she stayed clothed and fed.” She turned back to Carry. “Caroline, say hello to your Uncle Henry.”
    There was a pause, and for a moment I thought Carry was going to be unconscionably rude, even for her new self. She loved Uncle Henry as much as I did. I knew this, and so she had no business making him the victim of whatever frustrations had recently crawled inside of her. I wasn’t sure she had any business taking it out on me and my mother neither, but I suppose by virtue of simply living together, you automatically assume certain responsibilities. I was just about ready to give Carry a piece of my mind when she came to her senses. “Hello, Uncle Henry,” she said, even turning to look at him. “It’s nice to see you.” She didn’t say it with quite the proper emotion such a sentiment required, but at least she said it.
    Uncle Henry nodded and winked back. “Nice to see you too, sugarplum. Sorry you’re goin’ through whatever phase you’re goin’ through. Just try to remember that everyone who grows up pretty much grows up the same way, and every one of ’em thinks they’re different than all the others who came before them, but one day you’ll see that’s not the case. But you can’t skip over anythin’, cuz it’s all important and it’s all part of becoming who you’ll eventually be.” He gave my mother a sideways smile. “So your mama here, she’s just gonna have to hang on and do her best to keep the train from runnin’ off the tracks. But try to remember from time to time that we’re all on your side.”
    Now, normally these days, if someone said something like this to Carry it would result in a blowup so extreme I would have been looking for cover. This new Carry, the one I really didn’t care for so much, didn’t like having anything explained to her that even slightly smelled like parental advice. I think I even flinched halfway through Uncle Henry’s little speech, waiting for the knife and fork in front of my sister to come flying across the room like poisoned arrows, but Carry surprised me this time. Her eyes did narrow when he finished talking, and she was obviously thinking something over, but it turned out to not have anything to do with throwing a fit. She just nodded back to him, the edges of her lips nearly even raising enough to qualify as a smile, and said, “Thanks, Uncle Henry. I’ll try to remember that.”
    Uncle Henry gave her a wink. “Thanks, sugarplum.” He went around to where she was sitting and squatted down beside her. “You got a kiss for your Uncle Henry under all that angst?”
    Now she did smile and gave him a hug and kissed him on the cheek the same way my mother had.
    â€œHow about you, young soldier?” Uncle Henry asked, coming around to where I was sitting with a mouthful of potatoes while my mother set a