The New Elvis Read Online Free Page A

lopsided grin, and strong jaw—were reflected back at him. He was the same boy in the same house, with the same guitar, yet he felt reborn and more alive than ever. The word came to him—
purpose
—and swam around in his mind until it merged with the porpoises on his underwater mural, and he laughed aloud with pleasure.

Chapter 9
    An ordinary chain-link fence separated Jarrod and Ramona Lockhart’s property from the family that lived behind them, but it didn’t stop Logan from trying to make friends with the boy who lived there, Fred Henn.
    When summer arrived, and Fred’s eleventh birthday loomed, Kara Henn sent out invitations for a pool party in their backyard, complete with pizza, sodas, cake, and a clown, to the boys in Fred’s class. Not being in Fred’s class, Logan wasn’t invited, but the morning they began hanging crepe streamers outside, Ted Henn took pity on the boy and issued him an invitation.
    Excited, Logan searched for his swim trunks in the piles of clothing that had formed like haystacks throughout his room. His mother was in the kitchen, burning bacon and eggs for his father, who hadn’t found an adequate excuse to escape her rare offer to push all the trash aside and try to cook a meal.
    Flipping through channels on the television positioned across from the cluttered kitchen table, Jarrod settled on NBC Sports and lit a cigarette. He was in his undershirt and shorts and needed a shower, but it was Saturday, and Abercromby’s was closed until noon because Calder Baillie needed to fill double his usual meth orders.
    Ramona was giddy with excitement. She had found her frying pan in a cupboard filled with old glass jars her mother had used for preserves. Once she cleared off the stove, she could make a late breakfast, and maybe, if Jarrod showed interest, they could find time to be alone.
    The bacon and eggs were beginning to blacken as smoke filled the kitchen.
    Jarrod jumped out of his seat. “Jesus, woman! What the hell are you doing?”
    “I thought you liked your bacon crisp.”
    “Yeah, but not my nose hair!”
    Logan couldn’t find his swimsuit, so he put on a pair of shorts and wandered outside. He had dug a hole directly into the Henns’ backyard, so he crawled under the fence and looked up at the treehouse in the oak that grew along the property line, where Logan spent many a night whenever his parents argued. He sat down and watched as a pair of Fred’s classmates showed up and placed gifts on the picnic table.
    Kara came out with a stack of plastic cups and a pitcher of lemonade. “Hi, boys. Fred is inside. I’ll tell him you’re here. You can put your towels over there.” She indicated to another table near a sandbox filled with Tonka trucks.
    “Cool,” the taller one, named Eben, said.
    The boys stripped off their jeans and shirts to reveal swimming trunks.
    Wearing a pair of board shorts, Fred came out of the house and pointed at the pool. “Jump in, guys.”
    They did, and soon, Fred joined them. Within a half hour, a dozen more boys arrived. Logan worked up the courage to try the pool. He stepped into the shallow end and sat down on the steps. The water was up to his chest.
    Ramona’s voice was so loud she could be heard in the Henns yard. “You’re not going anywhere!”
    Jarrod was just as loud, just as caustic. “The hell I’m not!”
    Logan slid down the steps of the pool and sank down into the water. The argument escalated, and Logan reddened, certain someone would notice him. Kara came out with more lemonade and stopped beside her husband, who was setting up lawn chairs.
    “Are they at it again?” Ted’s eyes darted around the yard. He had invited Logan to the party but didn’t see him anywhere.
    Logan was ashamed. It hadn’t always been like this. He shut his eyes and drifted back to a time when MawMaw was still alive and his mother was happy. MawMaw had her own room, and it was the only place in the house that was kept clean and tidy. Even now, her