Middle of Nowhere Read Online Free Page A

weren’t paying attention.
    The sad face was about the bottles on the table.
    While we waited, Mrs. Gill sat with me on the couch and took a book out of her purse.
    â€œI always carry a book with me, Curtis. Just in case.” It was about a frog who rode a motorcycle. After she finished reading it to me, she checked her watch and asked if I was hungry. In her purse was a granola bar.
    â€œAlso just in case,” she said, putting on her happy face. Then she left me looking at the pictures of the motorcycling frog while she stepped into the hall to make some calls.
    I tucked the granola bar down the back of the couch. Just in case there wasn’t any supper that night.
    I knew why Mom wasn’t coming home. She wasn’t coming home because I had hoped so hard that she wouldn’t while I was helping Mrs. Gill with the cotton balls for Santa. But now I did want her home.
    Mrs. Gill came back in. Did I know anybody in the building? No. Did I have relatives in town? No. Who was this Gerry person who was listed in the office as my emergency contact? Where did he live?
    â€œHere,” I said and got up and led her to the bedroom to show her Gerry’s stuff. His clothes lying all over the floor — his jeans and dirty socks and the T-shirts with the sleeves ripped off. Gerry’s guitar in the stickered case in the corner.
    But everything was gone.
    Gerry had left, I found out later. He’d left and Mom had gone after him.
    3
    CAN YOU GO TO THE STORE FOR ME?
    It was taped to the front window, written in big letters so I could read it from the street. I went through the gate with the ABSOLUTELY NO FLYERS! sign and up the steps to ring the doorbell. Artie waited at the bottom, his knees practically knocking together in fear.
    I wasn’t afraid of her anymore. We had the credit card.
    â€œI’m coming!” I heard her call from inside. “Don’t run off on me again!”
    Finally she opened the door, pink and cranky, before she remembered to put on her happy face.
    Her teeth were brown. Maybe that was why she looked so sour all the time, because she was hiding her bad teeth.
    â€œYou saw my sign?” she asked, and I nodded. “Why’d you run off so fast yesterday?”
    â€œYou seemed mad.”
    â€œI
was
mad! You would be, too, if you had to pick up and set down this contraption every time you took a step!” Then she noticed Artie hovering at the bottom of the steps. Her face went soft like ice cream.
    â€œHello!” she called. “What’s your name?”
    Artie drew his lips into his mouth, making a tight line.
    â€œArtie,” I answered for him.
    â€œArtie? I’m Mrs. Burt.”
    She didn’t ask my name. She said, “Boys, it’s a catastrophe. I’m out of tea.”
    We were on our way to school. She said she would probably survive if we brought the tea after school, being as she had already gone without for nearly twenty-four hours. “You may as well pick up a few other things at the same time. Milk and eggs. And cottage cheese. Should I write it down?”
    â€œI’ll remember,” I said.
    â€œYou’re sharp.” She gave me another twenty-dollar bill. “And if there’s anything left, get a treat for Artie and yourself.”
    â€œWe don’t need it.”
    â€œI’m sure you don’t, but take it anyway.”

    THE REST OF the day went much faster. I had a sandwich in my stomach, as well as toast and milk from breakfast. Also the school year was winding down and not even the teachers were that serious anymore. It felt like one big art project now.
    I picked up Artie at three and even stopped to chat with Mrs. Gill for a few minutes in case she wondered about his candy lunch the day before. She asked me how Mom was and I told her in a completely normal voice that she was great.
    We bought the old lady’s groceries. The same clerk was there and he flashed his gold tooth at