The Bad Lady (Novel) by John Meany Read Free Book Online Page A

go?”
    “I don’t remember,” I responded noncommittally. “Just up the street.”
    “Anyway, Miss Hall, when Nancy Sutcliffe dropped off your son, my wife Stacie told me she just up and drove off. Peeled out actually. Didn‘t bother to say hello. Wave or anything. Stacie said her behavior seemed a bit odd. Just thought you‘d like to know.”
    “Odd?” My mom shrugged. Watched Mr. Keller tap ashes onto the pavement. “Maybe she was in a hurry.”
    “Yeah. Could be. Either that or maybe she didn‘t feel like dealing with my wife.”
    My mother snickered. “Hey you said that, not me.”
    “I admit Stacie can be a royal pain in the butt.”
    “She just talks a lot, but your wife’s okay . . . I hope Nancy Sutcliffe didn’t fill my son’s belly with too much sugar.”
    “Oh. I don‘t think so,” said Mr. Keller. “At dinner, Billy had quite an appetite. Finished everything on his plate. He must love barbeque chicken.”
    “I do,” I said, wishing Andrew’s father would leave.
    Pleased, my mom tousled my hair. “Billy’s a growing boy. He needs his protein. Before you know it he’ll have huge muscles like Hulk Hogan.”
    “Speaking of sugar, Miss Hall, here you go.” Mr. Keller handed her a brown paper lunch bag.
    “What’s this?” she asked, peeking inside at the contents.
    “A piece of Boston Crème pie. Compliments from my wife.”
    “That’s right. On the phone, Stacie did mention that she would give me a piece. Tell her I said thanks.”
    “I will.”
    “I’ll see you later Mr. Keller.”
    “So long.” As he backed up, Andrew‘s father waved.
    “Bye,” I uttered.
     
     
    CHAPTER 6
     
     
     
     
     
     
    On the way into the house, my mom put her arm around me. “Billy, I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier. I know you didn’t mean to break the lamp.”
    “That’s okay.”
    “No. It’s not okay. I’m your mother and I shouldn’t have blown my top the way I had.” She sounded sincere.
    “I promise I won’t kick the ball around in the house again,” I told her. “So can I have it back?”
    “What, your Nerf football?”
    “Uh huh.”
    “Of course you can have it back,” she says. “The football is in your room, on top of your dresser. Did you really think I would throw it out?”
    “Kind of. I wasn’t sure.” You could say my mother had one of those unpredictable personalities where one minute she might be pissed off and the next moment she would suddenly be back to her normal happy self. I could never quite figure her out. Soon you’ll understand why.
    “You have to realize though, Billy, that lamp cost a lot of money.”
    “I know.”
    “It’s something I can’t just go to K-mart and easily replace. That was a custom lamp.”
    Ashamed, I hung my head. “I said I was sorry. I told you I didn‘t break the lamp on purpose.”
    “C’mon. I realize that. Look at me.”
    I did.
    “I didn’t mean to yell at you. As a matter of fact, to make it up to you, Billy, this afternoon I went out and bought new wallpaper for your bedroom.”
    “You did?” For about a month, she had been saying she would get new wallpaper for my room, though, for whatever the reason, had never gotten around to actually doing it.
    “Yeah. Come on. I’ll show you.”
    “Okay. What color is it?”
    “The wallpaper is navy-blue with adorable sailboats on it. You’ll like it. It‘s perfect for a boy.”
    In my small bedroom, on the dresser next to my Nerf football, the wallpaper lay rolled up like a scroll. My mom unraveled it, and then held the decorative blue paper up to the wall so that I could see what it would look like.
    “So what do you think?” she asked, grinning.
    “It’s cool,” I told her. And I meant it. At the time, anything would have looked better than the way the walls were, brown and depressing. “When are you going to put it up?”
    “I was thinking I’ll put the wallpaper up sometime this week.”
    “Do you want me to help?” I asked.
    “Of course.