How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets Read Online Free PDF

running at them. Ellen quickly backs away, and for a moment, Evan wonders what will happen to her. But he can’t worry about that now. He revs the engine and drops the clutch, leaving squealing tires and a cloud of acrid smoke in his wake. They fly down the idyllic residential street, posted speed limit twenty-five (the old Saab still can get off the line pretty good, Evan notes with a grimace), and away from some crazy scene. Dean twists himself around and looks out the rear window.
    “We should go back.”
    “She told me to get you out of there, Dean. She knows what she’s doing. She said she’d call.”
    “But—”
    “Sit down!”
    Dean reluctantly resumes his seat, snaps on his seat belt.
    “Grandpa’s scary, ” he says.
    “To you and me both.”
    • • •
    THEY STOP FOR gas about an hour out of Walla Walla. Dean has sucked himself into his shell. He isn’t Dean; he is a husk, a hollow casing. The real Dean is somewhere else, far, far away.
    Evan gets himself a bottle of water; Dean doesn’t want anything. While he’s in the mini-mart, Evan takes out his cell phone and gets Ellen’s number from information.
    “Hello?” she answers with false brightness.
    “It’s Evan.”
    “I said you could talk to him, ” she says, dropping her voice to a whisper. “I said you—”
    “What’s going on there, Mrs. Smith?”
    “I said you could talk to him, not take him.”
    “I thought you meant—”
    “Frank was very angry.”
    “Did he hit you? Is that what happened?”
    “No, Evan.”
    “Is he abusing you? Should I call the police?”
    “No, Evan, don’t be so melodramatic. We had an argument and I bumped into the freezer door, if you can believe that. The door was open and I turned.”
    She abruptly stops; a moment of silence; then she says cheerfully, “I’ll call you in a few days and we’ll get together.”
    What? She’s either lost her mind or Frank has walked into the room.
    “What am I supposed to do with him?” Evan asks.
    “Thank you so much for calling. I’ll be sure to pass along your thoughts to Frank, of course.”
    “What am I supposed to do with him?”
    “We’ll be fine. It’s difficult, yes, but we’ll get through. I’ll call you in a few days and we’ll get together for a nice lunch, okay? Okay, talk to you soon, Sally.”
    She hangs up. Wonderful.
    Evan could have anticipated almost all of this: seeing Dean, having Dean yell at him, even having a barefooted Frank chase him down the street. But bringing Dean home with him? No. Not in a million years.
    He goes outside and climbs back into the hot car. Dean doesn’t acknowledge him; he stares out the window as they pull onto the road.
    “Can you turn on the air conditioner?” Dean asks.
    “It’s on.”
    “Can you turn it up?”
    “It’s up.”
    Dean closes his eyes and leans back in his seat.
    “I wish my mom were here, ” he says quietly to himself, his last words until they arrive in Seattle, almost four hours later.

T RACY CALLED FROM the hospital to tell him.
    “I didn’t do it, ” she said.
    “Didn’t do what?”
    “I mean I did it.”
    “You did what?” Evan asked, feeling his pulse quicken.
    “I had it. Him.”
    Evan’s head spun once around, a perfect three-sixty, and stopped. It. Him. She had it. Him.
    “Are you all right?” he asked, not knowing what else to ask.
    “I’m fine. I just wanted you to know that I didn’t have the abortion. I had the baby. It’s a boy. I named him Dean.”
    Evan stood, dumbfounded, for several seconds before he hung up.
    I had him. There were implications to that statement. There were strings attached. Lots of strings. He’d given her money to have an abortion and she didn’t do it. But she’d taken the money, didn’t that make it a contract? He definitely wanted the abortion done. She’d convinced him of it. Didn’t she? He wanted the baby killed. He really did. (Didn’t he?) He was seventeen years old. He wasn’t supposed to want a child. He