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Show Peppermint Monde Chapter 5: Renae's Slumber Party Andrea and I stopped at Grandma Ruby's to tell her about Barton and Renae. Actually I told her while Andrea ate chocolate chip - oatmeal cookies. I told Grandma about how Barton hadn't changed at all in two years, except for the worse. I told her about his dull sweaters, plain loafers, and problems with crossword puzzles. I even explained how he wasn't taller than the local boys. Grandma Ruby did what she always does. She just sat on her pink velvet sofa with a pattern of small, darker pink rosebuds and listenedc She always told us it made her feel young to hear the young's problems, so I guess she felt fourteen today. "This Barton sounds like he's good for something. When he's gone, who will you complain about? Old Jake again? It's kind of nice to hear about somebody besides Jake for a change." Grandma winked at Andrea as if they shared the burden of hearing my troubles. And they did. They were the only ones that heard me out. Grandma Ruby enjoyed it too, even if she tried to act as if she didn't. She looked forward to our visits as much as I did. "Then that's all he's good for." Grandma was right. Jason and I had been hashing Barton's faults over instead of Jakes. Jake was coming around a lot too, but he stayed outside with Russ. We didn't have to look at him as much. We didn't have to eat our meals with him, at least we hadn't yet. "He's good for more than that. He's occupying Renae's thoughts so Matt can breathe a little." Andrea stopped stuffing ecokies long enough to add to the conversation. She usually didn't say a whole lot about Renae. |
