The House You Pass on the Way Read Online Free PDF Page B

and unsure of themselves behind the thick mascara and painted-on lips.
    Staggerlee pulled her sweatshirt away from her chest and blew down into it. It was an old Columbia shirt that had once belonged to her father. He had gone there for two years before dropping out to learn to fly planes. He had a small airport down in Anderson, taking people down to and back from the Sea Islands. Her mother had gone to Mount Holyoke, and more than once she had told them she’d be proud if Staggerlee or Dotti followed in her footsteps. Staggerlee had pulled the sweatshirt on this morning without thinking about how hot she’d be in it. And now, as the sun beat down on her, she pushed the sleeves up past her elbows and squinted into the crowds. She looked so different from everyone. Her clothes, the thick-soled hiking boots, her hair. And she felt different too—off-step somehow, on the outside. What did it sound like, Staggerlee wondered, having someone call your name across a crowded school yard? How did it feel to turn to the sound of your name, to see some smiling face or waving hand and know it was for you and you alone?
    Staggerlee watched the students piling onto the school buses. She would walk home today—six miles. Maybe she’d run into her mother and Battle along the way, coming from shopping in town. Yes, that would be nice, to steal up behind them and wrap her arms around Mama’s waist. To see Mama turn, then smile and hug her. To see Battle laughing with surprise.
    The stairs were almost empty. Staggerlee took her harmonica from her pocket and started blowing.
    Charlie Horse was gone now. He had hugged her hard the morning he left and promised to write. It hadn’t seemed real that day, his leaving. As Staggerlee stood on the porch watching him and Daddy drive off, she waved absently, a part of her believing he’d be back in a day or two. But now it was starting to settle in. The house felt emptier without him. Some mornings, she ran her fingers along the piano wishing he were there playing. When she plucked at the keys, they echoed through the house and faded. It felt as if the house itself were missing Charlie Horse.
    When the last school bus drove off, Staggerlee looked around her.
    Tyler would arrive next Thursday, and Staggerlee and Daddy would pick her up in Tudor—a small town about fifty miles north of Sweet Gum.
    Staggerlee ran her tongue over her harmonica and wondered for maybe the thousandth time what it would be like to have Tyler staying with them.
    It was sunny and warm now. All around her, sugar maples and silver birches were beginning to bloom. She blew a note, soft and clear. Was Tyler up in Baltimore, packing slowly and thinking about coming?

Chapter Six
    IT RAINED THE MORNING THEY LEFT FOR TUDOR. Red mud trails flowed down away from the house on the Breakabone River side. Staggerlee sat in the truck staring out the window while her father gave last-minute instructions to Dotti.
    “How come Staggerlee can’t stay home with Battle?”
    “I’ll stay,” Staggerlee lied. “You can go with Daddy to Tudor.”
    “I don’t want to go to nobody’s Tudor.” Dotti glared at Staggerlee. All morning she had complained about not being the one who wanted Tyler to visit, that it wasn’t fair that she was stuck with Battle now that Charlie Horse was gone.
    “If Battle wakes up,” Daddy said, “give him the juice bottle. There should be some crackers he can chew on in the cabinet.”
    Dotti stood on the porch looking evil. She was wearing a pair of short-shorts and a near-transparent shirt over a black bra.
    “Don’t wake Adeen either. No company. No loud music. You hear me?”
    “I heard you,” Dotti said, rolling her eyes. “I’m going to Jen’s when y’all get back.”
    “Maybe,” Daddy said, climbing into the truck. “Maybe when we get back you can change your clothes and go on over to Jen’s.”
    Dotti turned on her heel and slammed inside the house.
    “Don’t know what we’re going to