Slick by Sara Cassidy Read Free Book Online Page B

corner to say goodbye.
    â€œThat was great of your mom’s boyfriend to organize the workshop,” Olive enthuses.
    â€œWhatever,” I say. “He just wants me on his side. He’s buying me off so he can have my mom.”
    â€œWhen my parents and I moved into the neighborhood, you baked us a blackberry crumble,” Olive says. “Were you just trying to buy us?”
    â€œI was being friendly. You know that. Neighborly.”
    â€œ So may be Robert’s being neighborly.”
    â€œYeah, well, I don’t want him in the neighborhood.”
    â€œLiza Maybird, it sounds like you’re the one with the problem. Not him.”
    I feel myself turn red. I want to hide. I want to scream and say it isn’t true.
    â€œYou sure are good at fixing your bike,” Olive says then, raising her eyebrows thoughtfully. And I know what she’s trying to say. She’s saying that she sees the real me, whether I’m being smart, like when I’m fixing my bike, or whether I’m being stupid.
    At supper, Mom drops a little bomb. “This Christmas, I’d like Robert to come to the Great Bear Rainforest with us.” She watches us nervously.
    I feel like my breath has been sucked out of me. I want to leave the room.
    â€œYippee!” the boys start screaming. But when they see my face, they quiet down.
    â€œWe all know that Liza isn’t fond of Robert, so this isn’t exciting news for her,” Mom says gently.
    â€œIt’s lousy news,” I yell, bursting into tears. “The worst!” I run from the room.
    Minutes later, Leland visits me. I’m facedown on my bed, sobbing. “Cake for ’Iza?” Leland asks, holding out a plate of chocolate cake. He calls me ’Iza as a pet name. It’s how he said my name when he was a baby.
    â€œThanks, Lee-Lee, I’m not hungry.”
    Silas comes in with a mug of mint tea. “Thanks,” I say, sitting up. “You really like that guy, eh?” I ask them.
    â€œYeah, he’s fun. Not as fun as Dad,” Silas says. “But Dad’s far away.”
    â€œThe tea’s good. Thanks,” I say.
    â€œI put extra honey in it for you,” Silas says.
    Mom finally comes in and sits on the edge of my bed. “Sweetie, tell me what you’re feeling.”
    â€œMad,” I blubber. “He’s always in our lives now. Here for supper, at the boys’ soccer games, at parties. Whenever you get a free moment, you’re on the phone with him, or getting your hair done for him. I never see you, just you , anymore. It’s never just us . He comes first, and we just get pushed aside for him. You drive up to his house, and I get in the backseat! It sucks!”
    I don’t think. I just talk. And Mom doesn’t argue. She doesn’t interrupt to say it isn’t that bad or that I’m just tired. She’s really listening. Finally I’m talked out, and Mom’s sitting there, crying a little and nodding. The boys are spellbound.
    At last, Mom speaks. “Liza, I am so proud of you for telling me how you feel. I understand. And I’m sorry. I was so excited about meeting someone who makes me laugh and feel good, that I jumped in quickly. And left you guys on the shore sometimes.
    â€œHow about this: how about Robert just comes up to Great Bear for two nights. We’re there for a whole week. Would that be acceptable?”
    â€œI’d rather not see him at all,” I pout.
    â€œOkay, then, three nights,” Mom says, cracking a smile.
    â€œTwo!” I laugh. “I can handle him for two.”
    Silas and Leland start whooping then and jumping on my bed. After a bit, Mom and I join in—until the bed makes an evil-sounding crack. We freeze and then fall into a giggling heap.
    For Immediate Release Friday, December 10, 2010
    Attn. Media: Keep Our Coast Tanker-Free
(Victoria, BC)
GRRR! is at it again. On Friday at Arbutus Beach,