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Show Peppermunt Mono; as if this trip to the doctor had been no different than any other. He acted as if he really believed he was going to live. I helped him eat his spagetti, which was not too easy. He ended up just sucking the spagetti up, leaving some of the sauce to dribble down his chin. He laughed every time the sauce ran. Of course it was nothing like the generous laughing he had done earlier with Jake, but it was still a laugh. Neither ma or me did much laughing while Russ ate. Pa didn't either. He watched Russ a lot too. I imagine ma told him all about the doctor and his'concerns. I couldn't tell if she had bothered to tell him about Jake and our arguement. If she had told him, he apparently agreed with her. Their attitude upset me almost as much as Jake's selfishness. I told Andrea Russ was dying. I told her on the bus, which isn't the ideal place to talk about death. I guess there isn't any place where death is a comfortable topic, but the noisy school bus would be last on my list of even half-way appropriate places. I had to tell her because the words were choking me. I had to tell her so I could breathe easier. "Russ is dying." I said it in a loud whisper. I didn't duck my head or anything. I looked straight at her. "Oh." Andrea ducked her head. Just in time, too. A airplane made from science experiment paper sailed over her bent head. It had come from the back, naturally. So did a lot of loud laughter and animal noises. A quiet church would have been a much better location. "I'm sorry," Andrea added a few seconds later. I understood her awkwardness. There really wasn't a lot to say. "Thanks," I said with a curve of my mouth that didn't quite make it as a smile. I could see some large tears in Andrea's eyes. They were ready to |
