I’ll Become the Sea Read Online Free PDF Page A

the table. Like my legs could walk and everything but my mind didn’t want to let go. So my grandma, she took me out in the park. In the grass, where it would be soft? And she held me up and then she just let go my hands and walked backward until I started following her. And then before I knew it I was walking.”
    “Wow. That’s cool.”
    “I know. Like she made me be brave and everything.”
    “You’re lucky, Raymond. Having a grandma like that.”
    “I know.”
    “You want to read the rest of the story?”
    “Sure. Here comes Mr. Casey, though.”
    She saw him through a window in the classroom door. He had found a place for her and Raymond at the back of the center. A room they used for one-on-one instruction, which he arranged to clear out for her twice a week. It was private and quiet, a safe haven from the stress and tedium of their usual classroom.
    “Mr. Casey.” She rose.
    “Hello, Ms. Elliott.”
    She took his warm hand in hers. The sheer size and energy of his body shook her sense of balance. She steeled her spine against the ridiculous impulse to sway. When he turned his attention to Raymond, relief flooded through her and she sat down.
    “Hey there, kid.”
    Raymond smiled up at him. “Hey. We’re reading a book.”
    David glanced down. “Ah. That’s a good one. Does it make you think of your grandma?”
    “Yeah!” Raymond beamed. “I was just telling Ms. Elliott.”
    Jane sat down, gesturing for David to sit too. “She taught him how to walk. Did you know that?”
    “No. I didn’t know. That’s funny, though, because my grandma taught me how to play baseball.”
    Raymond looked dubious. “Really?”
    “Really. She was from New York. Loved the Dodgers when she was a little girl, when they were a Brooklyn team. She knows everything there is to know about playing. Started teaching me when I was five.”
    “You any good?”
    “Yeah. I’m not too bad. How about you? You any good at walking?”
    Raymond stared for a minute, then laughed, flicking his pencil at David across the table.
    David caught it with his hand, picked it up, placed it squarely next to the book in front of Raymond. “Back to work, you two. Just thought I’d drop in to say hi.” He stood up.
    “Hi.” Jane lifted her face to smile at him. “Bye.”
    He grinned in return. “See you.”
    He went back out to the hall. When the door shut, Jane brought her hand to her cheek and tried to ignore the way it was suddenly burning.
    At the end of their two hours, she packed her books and led Raymond out to the foyer to meet his grandmother. The older woman was waiting by the front desk.
    “Mrs. Johnson! How are you?” Jane reached out her hand.
    “Hello, Ms. Elliott.” She held Jane’s palm for a moment in her gloved fingers. “How’s everything?”
    “Great. Raymond has a book to read to you tonight. A good one.”
    Mrs. Johnson turned to her grandson, wrapping her arm around his shoulders. “Do you now?”
    He grinned at her.
    “Let’s head on home, son. I have a chicken in the oven.” She nodded to Jane. “He’s doing all right?”
    “Just fine. I’ll take the elevator down with you.”
    She opened the door, moving aside to let them through, and spotted David in the doorway of his office. She gave a small wave and hurried out. Before he could see the color rise up and spread over her face.

Chapter Six
    “Ms. Elliott?”
    She turned, facing into a swath of light from a parking lot lamp. She raised a hand to shield her eyes. “Hello?”
    He stepped closer, into the glare, blocking out the brightness so she could see. Around him floated an absurdly pretty cascade of new snowflakes.
    “Oh, hi. I didn’t recognize you. How are you, Mr. Casey?”
    Blinking, she looked up into his face. His eyes were bright in the sharp synthetic light.
    “Good. Grocery shopping. Laying in for this crazy snowstorm. What happened to spring? And call me David, by the way.”
    “David. And you can call me Jane.”
    “Okay