Is Anybody There? by Eve Bunting Read Free Book Online Page B

bear.
    Mom gave him the bag and said, “Cookies! For your sweet tooth.” He peered inside and said, “Caroline! Thank you!”
    I swear, he couldn’t have sounded more grateful if she’d given him a Porsche or a Ferrari. In my opinion, he overdid it a bit.
    “Marcus thought we should bring them up to you tonight,” Mom said, and Nick smiled at me. “Thanks Marcus. These are great. Come in, both of you. Sit down! Marcus, try the wicker chair. It’s pretty good. Caroline, you sit here.”
    When had this Caroline business started? I thought she was supposed to be Mrs. Mullen to him. I guess when you’re poring over a jigsaw puzzle night after night it’s pretty hard to say, “Hey, Mrs. Mullen, I’ve found this piece of sky,” or “Yes, I will have a cup of coffee, Mrs. Mullen. And I’ll take a butterscotch cookie if you happen to have one. They’re my favorites.” Caroline
would
be more natural.
    The wicker chair creaked but he was right, it was comfortable. Nick made us hot chocolate. He had one Santa mug, which he gave me. Mom said, “I’m getting fat and sassy and it isn’t even Christmas yet.”
    “You’re not fat,” Nick said. “You will never be fat.”
    That sounded like a pretty familiar remark for him to make to my mother. It was the kind of smirky, just-for-laughs thing Robbie would say. But Nick wasn’t being smirky. This was real, like the time I’d heard him tell her she was a beautiful woman.
    I stared around the apartment. There was the bird picture I’d seen yesterday, and other photographs of birds in flight, big flocks ofthem taking off into a sunset sky. There was one of a nest with babies in it. They had feathers that stuck up on the tops of their heads the way Anjelica Trotter’s school hair did. Mom’s picture wasn’t anywhere in sight.
    “I guess you like birds, Nick,” I said. “You must like taking pictures, period.” I didn’t add, “For instance, how about that one of Mom,” but I tried to put a lot of extra meaning into what I did say.
    Nick smiled. “I do. I teach photography as well as phys. ed., you know.”
    “You didn’t know that, Marcus?” Mom took a sip of her hot chocolate.
    “No.” Obviously
she
did.
    “Photography’s pretty neat,” Nick said. “I have an extra camera, brand-new. I bought it for my son, but …” He stopped. “You could borrow it if you like, Marcus. I’d be happy to give you some pointers.”
    What was he trying for now? A replacement son?
    “No way,” I said.
    “Marcus!” Mom sat straight.
    “I just meant that I don’t want to borrow a camera, that’s all,” I began. “I’ve got so many things going right now.”
    “It’s all right, Caroline,” Nick said. “Marcus knows what he wants and what he doesn’t want.”
    There he goes again, I thought. Taking my side.
    Nick had broken the cookies into quarters. He offered the plate to me and I took a piece and said, “Thanks, Nick,” so I’d come over a little more polite and Mom would be pleased. She and Nick were talking comfortably together, like friends who’d known each other for a long time. Good friends.
    After a while Mom stretched and yawned. “All I need now is a hot bath and early to bed. Tomorrow’s going to be hectic.” She stood up. “Ready, Marcus?”
    I was ready all right.
    Nick walked us to the door.
    “Caroline,” he said, “why don’t you go on? I want to speak to Marcus for a few minutes.”
    Uh-oh. I had a feeling this was going to be some kind of showdown. Maybe a let’s-try-to-get-along-for-your-mother’s-sake lecture.
    “Is it a Christmas secret?” Mom had that hopeful look. “The air’s filled with secrets at this time of year.” She gave me a smile. “I’ll see you later down at the house then, Marky.”
    The shadow on the window slid across my mind, even though I knew it was only the tree. “We’d better go together, Mom. I’m pretty pooped too. Can whatever it is wait till tomorrow, Nick?”
    “Sure. And Marcus.