Maybe the Moon Read Online Free PDF Page B

like, why don’t they talk about boobs?
    Renee’s face suddenly registered dread. “Oh, no.”
    “What?”
    “They’re pulling up next to us.”
    “Big deal.”
    “Don’t egg them on, Cady, please.”
    “Me?”
    “ Oowee, would you look at that ?” His voice was pure Orange County and came from just above the door next to me. I could seethe side of his hat, in fact, which had an American flag on it. “ Shit, man, she’s got a kid with her .”
    I restrained myself, looking straight ahead.
    “ Nah, it ain’t a kid. What the fuck is that ?”
    Renee whimpered at me. “Cady?”
    “What?”
    “What should I do?”
    “Just drive, OK? Faster.”
    “But…”
    “I’m not gonna moon ’em. Just keep driving.”
    “ You won’t fuckin’ believe this, man. She’s even got a friend for you !”
    I kept my eyes ahead of me and, ever so discreetly, gave him the finger.
    “ Ha ha…you see that? You see what that fuckin’ midget did ?”
    “Cady.” Renee cast me a desperate glance.
    “It’s all right,” I said, still flipping the bird. “Stay cool.”
    The guys lingered a moment longer, laughing like jackals, then shot ahead of us and screeched out of sight around the bend. Checking Renee for damage, I found her cheeks shiny with tears. This kind of stuff really gets to her, poor thing. She hasn’t dealt with it as long as I have.
    “How can they be so ugly?”
    “Practice,” I said.
    “If they knew who you were, they’d be so ashamed of themselves.”
    “We’re swerving, Renee.”
    “Oopsy…” She grabbed the wheel and made a quick recovery. “Sorry.”
    “What do you mean, if they knew who I was?”
    “If they knew they were saying those ugly things to Mr. Woods.”
    “Oh, for God’s sake!” I hooted at her. “You think they’d give a rat’s ass?”
    “I do…yes…I do.”
    “You are such a schmaltzbag.”
    “I bet they went to that movie, and I bet they cried.”
    “And then they went out and joined the ACLU.”
    Renee frowned at me in confusion.
    “Just a group,” I said.
    Now she looked more wounded than ever. “You’re making fun, and I’m serious.”
    “No, I’m not.” Sometimes she makes me feel like I’ve just knocked a kid’s ice cream cone into the dirt.
    “I believe in Mr. Woods,” she said.
    “I know, honey,” I found a Kleenex in the glove compartment and handed it to her. “Blow your nose.”
     
    We sat on our private hillock and watched the glowing grid of the Valley. The air was cooler but still very pleasant. A helicopter dipped and swayed on the slope below us, slashing the underbrush with garish white light. The night was so still and diamond clear that I could hear a dog barking all the way down in Sherman Oaks.
    “I saw Ham today,” Renee said.
    “Oh, yeah?” I tried to sound as nonchalant as she had.
    “He was at that baked potato place. At the mall.”
    “What did he have to say?”
    “I didn’t talk to him,” she said. “I just saw him.”
    “Oh.”
    “That was the first time I’ve seen him in almost two years.”
    “Three,” I said.
    “He looked good.”
    Good God, I thought, the creep dumped her. What was there to get misty-eyed about?
    She turned and looked at me. “Do you think I should call him?”
    “No, I do not.”
    “He looks different, Cady. Sadder. Maybe he misses me. How would I know if…”
    “Sweetie, he threw your stuff in the yard and changed the locks.”
    Playing the old tape again, Renee nodded morosely.
    “I think that was a clue,” I added.
    “Yeah.”
    “Besides, you haven’t missed him for years. You’ve told me so a million times.”
    Another nod.
    “What’s this about, anyway?”
    She sighed and gazed balefully into the distance. The helicopter was rising now, heading away, growing tinier by the second. I thought she might cry again, but she didn’t. She just pursed her lips and frowned a little. “I’ve been thinking,” she said. “Maybe he was right.”
    “About what?”
    “Maybe