Lost in the Sun Read Online Free Page B

supreme fit and said that if she was going to live in a house full of animals for the next several years, they were at least going to be hygienic animals, and if we ever pulled another prank again, she was going to string us up by our toenails and leave us for the coyotes. I was pretty sure she’d do it,too. So no more pranks ever, for as long as we lived, that was Mom’s new rule.
    That had pretty much
always
been Dad’s rule.
    â€œSo,” Dad said and then cleared his throat. Next to me, Aaron
“Three, two, one”
-ed at me again, and sure enough the next thing out of Dad’s mouth was “What did you all get up to today?”
    I gave Aaron his second fist bump.
    Aaron told Dad and Kari about his day at Swim Beach, where nothing happened at all because lifeguarding was about the most boring job you could have, apparently. Doug told them about riding bikes and playing Monopoly with his two new best-friends-forever. And when Dad remembered he had a third son and asked me about my day, I said, “Nothing.” Because what was I supposed to talk about? How I drew a bunch more pictures of the kid I killed and didn’t play baseball and a girl with a scar thought I owed her one?
    â€œDo you think our food’s going to come soon?” I asked. “I want to get home in time for the first pitch.”
    â€œTrent, be civil,” Dad said. “We’re having a nice dinner.”
    â€œI’m just saying,” I told him. I felt my chest warming up again, not quite fire, but on its way, and I wasn’t sure why. I scooched lower in my seat and crossed my arms in front of me. I could feel my Book of Thoughts pressing against my stomach from the front pocket of my sweatshirt. Why hadn’t I left that idiotic thing at home? “It’s the Diamondbacks tonight, and I want to watch it.”
    â€œWe’ll be done when we’re done,” Dad said. “Just enjoy your dinner, all right? Some kids don’t spend any time with their fathers.”
    â€œSome kids are lucky,” I muttered.
    Well. The table got quiet then, let me tell you.
    â€œWhat did you say to me?” Dad asked. He was all squinty eyes and anger.
    â€œNothing,” I said.
    Fire, hot fire in my chest.
    â€œYou listen to me, young man,” Dad started. Aaron and Doug were staring down at their place mats. They were smarter than me when it came to Dad, always had been. “I go out of my way, three nights a week, to make sure I have a healthy relationship with you boys, and you could not be more ungrateful. I just want to have a pleasant dinner with my three sons, is that too much to ask?” I did not look up at him. “Trent, just do me a favor and don’t say anything for the next five minutes, you think you can do that?”
    That’s when Claudia brought our food. I might’ve been making things up, but it seemed like she put my burger in front of me extra gently. “There you go, sweetie,” she told me.
    â€œYour father had a hard day at work today,” Kari decided to say as she dug into her salad.
    Dad rolled his eyes but didn’t say anything.
    I picked up my burger and stared at it. “All I said was I wanted to watch the Diamondbacks,” I told him.
    â€œFor the love of—!”
Dad shouted, slamming his fork down on his plate. “Trent, just shut up for five minutes, would you?”
    â€œYou don’t tell me to shut up!” I shouted back. The fire was prickly hot now. In my neck, my ears, my everything. “You’re my
dad.
Dads can’t say shut up.” My heart felt like it was beating in my stomach—
pound pound pound
—right up against my notebook. Thoughts thumping everywhere.
    â€œStop shouting, Trent, you’re causing a scene.”
    â€œ
You’re
the one causing a scene,” I told Dad. “
You
stop shouting.”
    Under the table, Aaron was squeezing my leg, trying to calm me