Three Little Words Read Online Free PDF Page B

are always smiling in the pictures and they evoke only warm feelings in me.
    That summer Luke stayed home while I went to the beach with Leanne, her boyfriend, and his daughter, Savannah, who was about my age. We built sand castles, ran in the surf, rode a merry-go-round, a miniature train, and bumper cars. Savannah and I slept together in a double bed, wearing T-shirt nighties and hugging matching dolls.
    Adele made a big fuss over Luke’s third birthday in July with a homemade cake, balloons, and fancy hats for us and her grandchildren.
    “Why didn’t I have a party?” I complained.
    “You had just arrived.” Adele did not mention Grandpa’s arrest a few days before I turned five. “But when you are six, you can invite children from your class.”
     

     
    Sometime later that summer, Ava Willis dropped by. “The report from the mental health center shows that Ashley has bonded with you and is relatively well adjusted.” She paused. “How are things going between you and Sam?”
    Adele admitted that Grandpa sometimes spoke to her cruelly. “But don’t you worry, he would never hurt me or those children.”
    “It must be hard for you,” the caseworker said sympathetically.
    “Yes, sometimes I think about leaving him, but since I’m not kin, I’d lose the children, right?”
    “If you got a foster parent license, they could stay with you.”
    Luke ran up to Adele. “Mama!” He slipped into her lap. She kissed his forehead. After wiggling around a bit, he slipped down, crawled under the table, and started grunting like a pig.
    “How long has he been calling you ‘Mama’?” the caseworker asked.
    “Almost right away,” Adele said. “He doesn’t remember anyone else.”
    “What about Ashley?”
    Adele chuckled. “One time I said something like ‘You mind your mama,’ and she stuck out her tongue and said, ‘You’re not my mama!’” She sighed. “I do love them as much as if they were mine.”
    “Is she still seeing the therapist?”
    Adele nodded.
    “Then give her some time.”
    “It would be better for all of us if this was permanent. How can we get custody?”
    “It might help if you two were married.”
    “I’m working on that!” Adele laughed. Then she lowered her voice and said something about wanting to make sure the Grovers were ruled out as placements.
    A week later it did not matter who loved us or who wanted us. It did not matter whether Adele and Grandpa were married. It did not matter whom we called “Mama” or “Papa.” It only took a few seconds for everything to blow apart.
    Someone had come to see my grandfather about buying a car. He let Luke and me tag along while Adele did the dishes. Almost at once the men started shouting. Grandpa placed his beer bottle on the hood and told us to go back to the house. I heard cussing, and then there was a strange popping, like a car backfiring. Then another. And another. Luke turned and shouted, “Papa fall down!”
    Grandpa was facedown in the dirt. He howled more like an animal than a man. Terrified, I took off toward the house. Adele was running in our direction, and I pressed myself into her outstretched arms. She collapsed on the porch steps, crying with her hands clasped over her mouth. The other man had shot Grandpa four times—twice to his head.
     

     
    “Of course he’s home,” Adele said when Ava Willis called four days after the shooting. “I’m a registered nurse and I can take care of him better right here.” Ava Willis’s voice was so loud, I overheard her shrill questions. “No need for you to come over. Everything is back to normal. Sam always said he came from the strongest stock in this county, and I guess he proved himself right,” Adele said with a forced laugh. After a pause her tone became more challenging. “He’s already agreed to attend Alcoholics Anonymous, what more do you want?” She began to pace, squeezing the coiled phone cord in her hand. “I’ve told you before that I am