Imperfections Read Online Free PDF Page B

happen every once in a while.”
    â€œ'Nother beer.”
    Grunt.
    â€œWhat did you get up to at school today?” Auntie Maggie asked us.
    My face flushed red with the memory.
    â€œNothing much,” Leonard smiled at me. He was so obvious.
    The newscaster reported that it had been over one year since the US Centers for Disease Control had begun officially monitoring a rare and persistent form of pneumonia seen only in patients with weakened immune systems, and an ever increasing number of cases in countries around the world had some calling this an epidemic.
    â€œHere’s your beer.”
    â€œThanks.”
    â€œWhat I miss?”
    â€œâ€˜Nothin’.”
    â€œWhen’s supper?” I asked Auntie Maggie.
    â€œShush, guys,” Father said, got up, crossed the room and turned up the news.
    â€œWhy don’t you go play out back?” Auntie Maggie said and beamed at us. “Barbeque and a slideshow later.”
    The newscaster talked about the splash a new band was having. Metallica played in some sweaty club. Dave Mustaine whipped his hair around. The newscaster mentioned heavy metal, mentioned thrash.
    â€œThey look like girls.”
    â€œYep.”
    â€œWhatever happened to ABBA? Now that was music.”
    â€œDunno.”
    â€œShame really.”
    â€œHave I got a treat for you later…” Uncle Tony smiled and nodded to my father. His eyes were kind of glassy, maybe a little drunk already.
    â€œSupper in about an hour,” Auntie Maggie called after us.
    The sliding door shut, cutting off the television noise.
    Leonard and I stood on the deck and surveyed the backyard, a little patch of earth squared in by weathered fences. A warm breeze, high up in the trees, rustled the leaves. The yellowing grass had brown trails worn into it, one led to the shed and the other led to a row of trees along the back fence. The trail to the shed was to get tools for tweaking the faucet in the kitchen or hammering in a nail to hang a new picture. The trail to the back alley was to take out the garbage in the cool evening air. It was not as well-kept as my backyard, the yard where I’d first met Leonard. Regardless, something was more attractive about the ratty, untrimmed bushes lining the fence and the weedy patches of thirsty grass. It was a living space full of history, stories and adventure.
    A splash sounded in the distance.
    My skin tingled. Something mysterious was going to happen; I could feel it.
    Leonard smiled when he saw that I was sensing something out of the ordinary.
    â€œWhat?” I asked his grin, looking at him out of the corner of my eye.
    Another splash from somewhere beyond the fence. It sounded closer than the last one. “Wanna see a naked girl?”
    The breeze that had been blowing high above the ground seemed to suddenly drop into the backyard and give a passing, floating touch to any patch of exposed skin.
    Before I could answer, Leonard rocketed off the deck and across the backyard. I followed, more out of habit than anything else. Leonard and I scrambled through the bramble until we came to the slats of the fence. For the most part they were too close together to spy through, but it seemed that Leonard had found a way—experience led him directly to a gap. A vertical band of light played on his face as he peered through. His iris dilated.  
    I eased down next to him, squatting on my heels and knowing all too well that the dry leaves and twigs shed by the bushes made for a difficult covert operation.
    Leonard watched for a while and then sighed.
    â€œCheck it out,” he whispered.
    Leonard shifted out of the way and gestured at the space between slats.
    I was torn. At that age, I didn’t really want to see a naked girl so I wanted to say no. There was a passing curiosity, though, to see what all the fuss was about and, for some reason, the splashing coming from the other side of the fence was intriguing so I wanted to