Saving Grace Read Online Free PDF Page B

was going to puke. I knew Justin would freak if I puked in his truck.
    I turned my head and sucked in fresh air. Well, not totally fresh. It smelled kind of like gas a bit, but it was better than the baby poop smell.
    I got the diaper off and folded it into a little package, but I didn’t know what to do with it. I should’ve brought some garbage bags. I felt around under the seats and found a rag Justin used to rub spots off the truck. It wasn’t exactly a rag. It felt kind of like a suede jacket.
    I wiped all the poop off Brianna using a bunch of baby wipes. Then I wrapped them and the diaper up in Jason’s truck-cleaningcloth. I hoped he wouldn’t be mad, but there wasn’t anything else to use.
    Before I could get a new diaper on Brianna, she peed. Some of it ran off the changing pad onto the seat of the truck. I grabbed a handful of wipes and mopped up most of it. Finally I got the clean diaper on her and a new pair of sleepers. The diaper was a little bit big, but the sleepers fit perfectly.
    Justin finally came back. He had a bag of Cheezies and a can of Coke in one hand. “It still stinks in here,” he said.
    â€œI need another bottle of water and some apple juice,” I said as I fastened Brianna into the car seat again. He just stood there. “Justin.” I glared at him.
    He held out his hand. “I need more money.” I gave him five dollars. He set his Coke and Cheezies on the seat. While he was gone I used another one of the baby wipes to get the crusty stuff off the baby’s nose.
    Justin came back with a bottle of water and a little bottle of juice. The water wasn’t very cold.
    â€œDidn’t they have any water colder than this?” I said.
    He shrugged. “That’s all I saw.”
    I filled a baby bottle about half full of the apple juice. Brianna sucked it down. But before I could even undo the belt in the car seat, she puked. It went everywhere. On her clothes and blanket. In the car seat. On the truck seat.
    â€œAw, Jesus,” Justin shouted. “There’s freakin’ barf all over my truck.”
    I’d already grabbed a handful of baby wipes from the box. I cleaned Brianna’s face and hands first. “She’s just a baby,” I said over my shoulder to Justin. “She can’t help it. Babies puke. And maybe you don’t remember, but you’ve puked in this truck a couple of times.”
    â€œThis is a total piss-up,” Justin raved. “I just cleaned the entire inside last night. Now it stinks.”
    â€œToo friggin’ bad,” I yelled at Justin.
    He grabbed the can of Coke and fired it across the service station lot. It hita telephone pole and bounced on the pavement. Brown foam sprayed all over the ground.
    I’d pretty much cleaned up Brianna, the car seat and the truck. I dumped a heap of dirty wipes in the garbage can between the gas pumps. I wadded up the blanket that was over the baby and threw that away too.
    The cloth with the poopy diaper and wipes was still on the truck floor. I picked it up and turned to throw it away too.
    â€œWhat the hell are you doing with that?” Justin yelled. “That’s my polishing cloth. Don’t throw that out.”
    I dropped everything in the garbage. “It’s a rag,” I said. “You can get another one. I needed something to wrap up the dirty diaper and stuff.”
    â€œThat’s not a rag. You are so stupid! That’s a polishing cloth for doing the truck bumpers.”
    â€œBig hairy deal,” I shouted back. “Like anyone cares what your stupid bumpers look like.” I reached down tofind a blanket in my backpack, and Justin grabbed my arm.
    â€œI’m not doing this, Evie,” he said. His face was so close to mine that bits of spit hit me as he said the words. “I’m done. We’re going back.”
    â€œNo.” I tried to wrench my arm away but he held on