Deep Down True Read Online Free PDF Page B

terribly thrilled about this arrangement to begin with. I certainly don’t want to antagonize her by sending you back as a . . .”
    “Carnivore?” Alder popped a meatball into her mouth.
    “I want one, too.” Grady wagged a ketchup-smeared finger at the meatballs. “What’s in it?”
    “It’s cow.” Alder pushed the bowl toward him. “Crushed cow.”
    Grady stabbed a meatball with his fork and studied it at eye level. “This is just like Survivor, ” he murmured. He contracted every muscle in his face as if to avoid some great threat.
    “G-Man, G-Man, G-Man,” chanted Alder, thumping her palm on the table.
    “You don’t have to if you don’t want to,” said Dana.
    “Just eat it, for godsake!” said Morgan.
    Alder’s beat on the table picked up speed. Grady inhaled as if it would be his last breath and jammed the meatball into his mouth. Everyone froze. “Grady,” Alder murmured, low and serious. “Do not—I repeat, do not —blow that thing out your nose.” Morgan started to giggle, and Dana had to smile. “No kidding, dude. You have to chew it and swallow it, or it’ll crawl right up into your nostrils. I’m telling you, it’s not pretty.”
    Grady’s jaw began to move, a look of amused horror on his face. He grabbed at his throat and squeezed his eyes shut. After a dramatic show of swallowing, he smacked his lips. “Not bad!”
    Alder stabbed another meatball and waved it at him. “Round two?”
    “Nah, I’m full.”
    Dana shot a smile of thanks at Alder. “I’m going down the street to Polly’s after dinner,” she told them. “She’s having a little get-together.”
    “Do you have to?” Morgan groaned.
    “Can I stay up?” said Grady.
    “Well, no, I don’t have to, but I want to. It’s nice to have a little grown-up time every once in a while.” Grown-up time was in drastically short supply since her divorce. She no longer had a husband to go out with, and it soon became clear that invitations from other couples had evaporated as well. Gatherings of women seemed to be the only social interaction she was entitled to anymore. “And no, you cannot stay up. I’ll tuck you in before I leave.”
    “But I need help with homework,” Morgan insisted.
    “Bring it into the kitchen, and I’ll talk you through it while I load the dishwasher.”
    “It’s English. You have to read it and pay attention.”
    Dana sighed. Even when Kenneth still lived there, Morgan wanted Dana near—not necessarily to spend time with, however. Morgan spent a good portion of her evenings texting her friends or watching shows like America’s Next Top Model . For reasons that neither of them fully understood, Morgan just wanted Dana in the building.
    “I’ll load the dishwasher,” said Alder.
    “That’s so nice of you, sweetie,” said Dana, “but you don’t have to.”
    “I don’t mind,” said Alder. “Besides, Meatball Man here will help me, right, G?”
    “What?” Grady was horrified. “I can’t load the dishwasher.”
    “Just bring the dishes in from the table. I’ll load them.” No one said anything for a moment. It was as if Alder had suggested they build a wide-body jet in the backyard and fly to Greenland.
    “Don’t I need a bath or something?” Grady asked desperately.
    “Jeez,” muttered Morgan. “Somebody mark this day on the calendar.”
    Alder stood, picked up her plate and utensils, and waited for Grady to do the same. He blew a huff of resignation and followed her. Morgan excused herself to go to the bathroom, and Dana met her in her room. The English homework was not that hard, but Morgan was fidgety and irritable, sucking loudly on a LifeSaver and moaning that she didn’t have a wordy brain. It was not cozy mother-daughter time. When they finished, Morgan murmured, “How long will you be gone?”
    “Not that long, honey. And Alder’s here if you need something.”
    Morgan narrowed her eyes. “Does Alder being here mean you’re going out more?”
    “No.”