Hello Loved Ones Read Online Free

horses, saluting as you drive by. Mom would remind him that it’s a sin to lie but that just made Dad laugh. Then he’d go away again, his trips stretching to four days, one week, two weeks. If he was gone a long time, Lenny would ask, “Where’s Dad?”
    “He’s out on a bender,” Mom would say, and Lenny was young enough to suppose that a bender was some new kind of job, better than selling church envelopes, which had always seemed like sissy work to Lenny anyway. A bender sounded important and difficult and he liked saying out loud to himself Dad’s out on a bender , in the same way he might say Dad’s out on a round-up , or an oil rig, or an expedition. If he hadn’t already decided to be a famous baseball player he might have considered being a bender man himself.
    The day before Lenny’s eighth birthday, Dad came home. He’d been away five weeks, the longest ever. It was late afternoon, nearly time for supper, and Lenny was sitting with his mother and Nell out in the yard enjoying a lemonade. Sally was down for her nap. When Dad drove up, Mom’s face turned hard and she looked away.
    “Hello loved ones!” Dad shouted jovially. He pulled a handkerchief from his back pocket and leaned over to dust the tops of his shoes before stepping on the grass. In the sun the round toes shined like wet brown rocks. When Lenny saw the shoes his heart sank. They were new, which meant Dad was in a good mood. It also meant there was a fight ahead. Whenever he came home looking dandy Mom started in. Don’t mention the shoes , he wanted to tell her, but he didn’t want to point them out on the chance she hadn’t noticed.
    Dad went to Mom and pulled her up out of the chair. She let herself be kissed.
    “Here I am,” he said. “Stop your sulking.”
    “I about gave up on you.”
    “Never!” He smacked her cheek loudly. “You kids come here and give me a hug.”
    Lenny rose to greet him. Why did he feel strange? Dad was home. He wore the same brown suit, the same yellow-striped tie. He had the same smile, the same hearty laugh, but he was different too. The August heat and the way Dad appeared out of nowhere made Lenny want to rub his eyes and look again.
    Lenny went over with Nell awkwardly behind. Dad gave them each a half squeeze.
    “How do I look?” he asked.
    Lenny squinted at him. He needed a shave. And there was a pink lump on his forehead that wasn’t there before. The sight of it thrilled Lenny. Was Dad in a fight? Had he punched someone in the kisser? Maybe he’d gotten in a scrap at some roadside cafe between church visits. Lenny knew from hearing his grandma talk that truck stops and roadside cafes were dangerous business.
    “What’s that on your head?” Lenny asked.
    Dad touched the lump like he’d forgotten it was there. “It’s a beauty mark,” he said with a grin. “Like it?”
    “What happened now?” Mom asked. Dad ignored her.
    “Aren’t you hot in that suit?” Nell said.
    “Now that you mention it, I am. Go fetch me a lemonade.” He chucked Nell under the chin and she shuffled toward the house.
    “Where were you?” Lenny asked.
    “Looking for work, son. Drove down to Louisville.”
    “Are you done selling church envelopes?”
    Dad whistled long and low. “Yes I am. Couldn’t stand another minute of it.”
    “Were you on a bender?” Lenny asked.
    Dad whirled toward Mom. “What’d he say?”
    She laughed, but it was a hard sound, with no happiness in it. Lenny tried to think of a distraction. Had he done anything that day worth mentioning? He’d looked for worms under the rain barrel, drank about a gallon of lemonade, sorted his baseball cards, read the latest Spiderman. Why hadn’t he done anything exciting? Why hadn’t he stopped to think that his dad could come rolling in at any minute? He used to be in the habit of paying closer attention to the things he did, making mental marks next to the ones he might tell his dad about. But with the heat of August bearing down