Evolution by L.L. Bartlett Read Free Book Online

You work such erratic hours. That can’t be good for your health.”
    “Well, since I’m usually at the hospital, I’ll be in good hands should I keel over. I’ll just grab some toast in the kitchen before I head upstairs to get some sleep.”
    Grandmother smiled sweetly.
    Richard smiled back. Some people just didn’t learn. If she thought the full moon was bad, he had a feeling she had just opened herself up to something even more shocking. Too bad he wouldn’t be around to witness it. No way would the kid try to pull something else off when he was home. But he was sure whatever plan was in the works it would hit fast and furiously.
    He got up from the table. “Have a good day.”
    “Sleep well,” they both wished him.
    Richard grabbed his cup and headed back to the kitchen. Why did he have to miss all the fun?
    #
    Curtis’s wreck of a car was waiting outside the school’s back door at four-thirty when I finally left the building. The rain hadn’t quit, and I was never so glad to see that junky old car. My feet were still damp from walking through the typhoon that morning and it hadn’t let up all day.
    I opened the passenger side and got in. “How long have you been here? If I’d known you were waiting, I would have left the darkroom earlier.”
    “Don’t worry. I didn’t have anything else to do,” Curtis said as he started the car and I buckled up.
    “Thanks for coming.”
    “Did you have a good day at school?”
    “Oh, yeah,” I said. It had cost me twenty bucks, but I’d had a very good day at school. Taking pictures of the drama club had been well worth it—and especially making contact with the production’s prop manager. Oh, yes, it was a very good day.
    “Funny thing happened while you were at school,” Curtis said, breaking for a stop sign. “Your coat and all the umbrellas reappeared.”
    “Oh, yeah?”
    He nodded. “Almost like magic.”
    “I don’t believe in magic.”
    “Neither do I,” he said, his eyes trained on the road ahead as the windshield wipers thumped in time with some old tune from the local jazz station.
    I looked out the passenger side window thinking over what he’d just said. No way was I going to feel guilty when the skies cleared later that night. At least, I hoped they’d clear. I was betting everything they would, and as the tune ended, the radio forecast confirmed it.
    Curtis pulled up the drive and let me out before he parked the car in the garage. I went on ahead and had hung up my still damp-jacket on the peg beside its cold-weather brother before I went into the kitchen. Richard was sitting at the table eating a sandwich, dressed to go back to work. He usually worked twelve-hour shifts, but sometimes more. No way did I ever want to be a doctor—of course, I had no idea what I wanted to be. Astronaut and Super Hero probably weren’t realistic goals.
    “Hey, kid,” Richard said, taking another bite of his ham sandwich. As usual Helen stood at the counter. Didn’t she ever take a break? I hated having conversations with her always listening in, knowing she reported everything to the enemy upstairs.
    “Hi.”
    “Good day at school?”
    Couldn’t anybody ever ask a different question? “I guess.”
    He swallowed. “I heard what happened this morning.”
    I eyed Helen.
    “I’m sorry you got drenched.”
    “I didn’t shrink,” I muttered, taking a seat at the table. “Can I have an apple or something?” I asked him, knowing if I asked Helen what the answer would be.
    “Help yourself to anything.”
    I got up and went to the fridge. A slab of peach pie covered in plastic wrap sat on a plate. I grabbed it, opened the silverware drawer for a fork, and sat down again, digging in. Helen glared at me. Had she been planning on scarfing down that piece of pie when no one was looking? I took another bite. “Wow, this is really good. Want a bite?” I offered Richard.
    “No, thanks. I don’t think any of your stuff will disappear again, but if it