Carrying Mason Read Online Free PDF Page B

blouse.”
    I swallowed. “Fine. But I am nearly fourteen years old—old enough to make my own fashion choices, and besides, it’s hotter than … than jumpin’ blue—”
    “Careful, Luna,” Mama said with a smile and raised eyebrows.
    “Jumpin’ blue heck, Mama. I was gonna say jumpin’ blue heck.”
    “Uh huh, now get out the ham and cheese and mustard, and grab that bag of chips from off the refrigerator.”
    “Why’s Daddy always tossing them up there?”
    “Been doin’ that for years.”
    I opened the bag and dumped the contents into a large pottery bowl. “At least you got help.”
    “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    “I’m sorry, Mama. I’m just worried about Ruby Day and I miss … I miss Mason so much I don’t think I can stand it.” Mama moved toward me and pulled my hair back, tying it into a ponytail with a rubber band she had around her wrist. “The heat is making us all cranky, and it’s been a hard day.”
    Tears welled in my eyes. “I miss him. I miss him so much.”
    She pulled me into her chest. “I know, Luna Fish. He was your friend.”
    “But why? Why did God take him? Why would God take a young boy—fifteen, and with a retarded mother and all. Why?”
    Mama patted my head. “I don’t know, honey. Those questions cannot be answered on earth.”
    I pulled away from her when I heard the station wagon pull into the driveway. “Daddy’s home.”
    The kitchen table was crowded with food and people with arms in constant motion passing this and that, eating and slurping juice from the cantaloupe bowls. My whole family was gathered like it was an ordinary day. Well, all except for JT, who was off on a shipsomewhere in the Mediterranean Ocean. I wrote him a letter and told him about Mason, but I figured it could be a few weeks before I heard anything back.
    Jasper slipped Polly a piece of honeydew melon. She dropped it on the floor and I gave Jasper such a look that he reached down and picked it up. “Sorry,” he said.
    “That’s right,” Mama said. “Polly doesn’t eat much fruit.”
    I ate a few bites of my own fruit, but it wasn’t going down easy.
    “Mama, Daddy,” I said as I pushed my plate away. “I got something to say.”
    “Say it, Luna,” Daddy said. He sipped coffee.
    “You got all these kids around the table, right?” I said.
    “Yeah, that’s right,” Mama said. “And I love each one of you equally.”
    “That ain’t it,” I said. “It’s just that … that—” I threw my napkin into my cantaloupe. “Ah, never mind.”
    “What is it?” Daddy said. “I had a long hard day in the sun so I ain’t in no mood for games. Just say it. Haven’t I always told you to just say what’s on your mind instead of lettin’ stuff fester like a boil that pops when no one expects it or wants it?”
    “Yes, Daddy.”
    “Maybe I should excuse the children,” Mama said.
    “Ah, phooey,” Jasper said. “We wanna stay and hear what Luna says.”
    Mama looked at me for a long few seconds. “No, I think Luna’s got something important stuck in her craw. You kids go on upstairs. I’ll call you down for ice cream.”
    After a few minutes of screeching chairs and weak protests, the kids, including a disgruntled Delores, were gone and I sat face-to-face with my parents.
    “Okay, I’m just gonna say it. Just the way Daddy told me Mason was … was gone. He just said it, no hems or haws, just came right out and said it.”
    Daddy laughed. “You’re hemming and hawing.”
    “Okay, here goes.” I sucked nearly all the air out of the kitchen. “I think I should move in with Ruby Day and help her now on account of Mason being … being gone, and she don’t have anyone to take care of her, and she can’t live alone.” I took a deep rescue breath and let it out slowly. I had plenty of time to breathe. My parents looked at me like I had just that second sprouted onions out the top of my head.
    At that moment Delores came bounding into the kitchen. “I