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“I kicked it because I didn’t know it was his. It was just lying over there in the trash.” Said Gerard.
“The only thing that’s lying is you.” Snarled Thomas.
The coach believed Gerard. He seemed to know that Thomas was a jerk. “Gerard, go on home. Thomas, go get your football.” Said the coach.
Thomas gave Gerard the nastiest look possible and then went off to get his football. If that really was his football anyway, thought Gerard.
* * *
On Friday, when his mother was working late again, Gerard went back to see Shelley. He found her sitting on the front steps of her house petting Miffy. Shelley looked tired. Elderly people always did, thought Gerard. Shelley’s red hair was tied back in a bun. She looked very serious and was wearing a straw hat and a black dress. She was also slouching a bit.
When Miffy saw Gerard, she ran up to him and started mewing. “Oh hello Gerard.” Said Shelley in a slightly off beat sort of voice.
“Hello Shelley. And Miffy.” He said picking up the kitten. She nuzzled up to him, covering him with fur.
“Today has been such a lazy day.” Said Shelley yawning. She looked up at the dark sky and the threatening storm clouds overhead. “This weather makes me so tired.”
“But it’s always like this. I would think that you’d be used to it by now. Personally, I love this weather. I love thunderstorms too.” Said Gerard.
They both stared up into he sky, until they felt the first rain drops.
Inside the house, Shelley had cookies in the oven. The smell resonated and warmed the drafty house. As Gerard opened the screen door and went inside, he tripped over a cat. It hissed and scratched him. His cut bled quite a bit. Gerard staggered into the kitchen, carrying his backpack.
Shelley was poking the cookies with a fork, her straw hat still on. Gerard had forgotten to take off his shoes, so he rushed back into the hall and did so. When he came back, Shelley looked up from what she was doing and eyes Gerard’s leg.
“Oh. Racal got you?” she asked.
“Yes. And he is very mean.” Said Gerard fake pouting.
He went over and sat down at the table. Shelley put the cookies on a plate and then disappeared down the hallway. When she came back she was holding anti-bacterial cream and bandages. She sat down next to Gerard and gently lifted up his pant leg. The cut was long and jagged, but the bleeding had pretty much stopped. Shelley wiped the blood away with a napkin. Next she applied ointment to the wound and bandaged it. She was very gentle and the ointment didn’t even sting. He watched her calmly, almost out of the corner of his eye so not to appear as if he were staring.
“There you go.” She said throwing away the bloody napkin.
“Thanks. “ He said quietly. He just stared at her.
* * *
One particularly gray afternoon, Gerard, Miffy, and Shelley were all sitting out in the garden, or at least, what it used to be. It was all covered in leaves. Miffy sniffed around and played with a ball of yarn. Shelley knitted what looked like a very ugly green sweater.
Gerard sat there, letting the breeze through his hair.