Bruno Read Online Free PDF Page B

been.
    I don’t tell her how I’ve really been. I don’t tell her much of anything. Instead, I just do what I always do, what everyone does, really; and say “I’ve been good.” Pretending at its finest - or worst.
    Without missing a beat, she goes on to tell me in detail about her outdoor garden that they’ve always had, which three years ago started to expand. She tells me about Alex’s citizenship award for friendliest student in his first grade class. She tells me about the new recipe she’s trying to get perfect for the upcoming fall festival. She tells me all these wonderful things, but as I nod my head and listen to her go on and on, I know that there is something weighing heavily on her mind. Something she hasn’t yet mentioned.
    After her speech about wanting to get a cat to help ward-off mice, she stops. She just outrights stops talking altogether. Inside, I panic, but before my body can make any movements to better the situation, tears start to fall from her eyes. Within moments she is sobbing into the kitchen table. My heart breaks for Bruno’s mom. I’ve never been good with crying, but I feel compelled to say something. I’m deciding between “don’t worry” and “it’ll be okay” when I hear her speak between gasps for air,
    “He has cancer again.”
    She raises her head and dabs her eyes with the same dishcloth she’s been squeezing throughout our conversation. She sniffles and recomposes herself. I sit in astonishment, trying to recollect my feelings. I replay back what happened last spring. We can’t go through that again. Bruno can’t go through that again.
    She must have seen my thoughts ticking away and she patted my hand. “We have to be strong, Saige,” she whispers, “for Bruno.”
    For Bruno… For Bruno… For Bruno…
    My mind echo’s her last words over and over and over.
     
    As I’m leaving the Castino’s, I see Alex bounding up the driveway, dragging his backpack through the dirt. “Saige!” He calls, dropping his bag, running to me full force.
    I smile because he’s so adorable, and because it’s harder to cry when your lips are curved upwards. “Alex! How was school?”
    I carry him down the driveway to retrieve his backpack, knowing full-well that if I don’t pick it up, it will be entirely forgotten. He takes his bag from me and opens it, showing me his crinkled award his mother had been proudly telling me about. “I’m the most friendliest kid in my grade!”
    “Way to go, A!” I high-five his extended hand.
    I must be really good at pretending because Alex doesn’t seem to notice my eyes red from rubbing away tears minutes before. His smile is genuine and toothless, his curls bouncy with energy and so full of life. I vow right then and there to make sure he never loses his love for living, even when death is right around the corner.
    “Did you see my mommy?” He asks.
    “Yes.”
    “Did she make my favorite bread for dinner?”
    “Yes she did.”
    “Good. Bruno likes that more than spaghetti and meatballs. About time, too, I’ve been waiting my whole life for him to love what I love!”
    His innocence is the best thing about life. He grabs my hand, pulling me towards his open front-door. I gently pull my hand out of his, saying I had to get home to see my mommy. He is sad for a quick second, and then smiling, saying “Oh yeah! Sometimes I forget other people have their own mommies.”
    He waves to me, yelling for me to come back and play trucks with him. I smile and promise to do so, knowing I’d keep my promise just to keep that smile on his face. I start my car, knowing that even though I said I was going back to my house, I had something more important to do first.
     
     
    Bruno’s swinging his legs off the handmade bench someone had abandoned up on the hill years ago. As I approach him, I can see he has dirt all over the bottom of his pants, as if he had walked. I sit beside him and we don’t say a word.
    The sun is setting. Funny,