“Well, I was afraid Dad would get mad at me for not telling her we didn't want them, so I
started intercepting them. I'd see her coming, get to her
before she rang the bell, and then I'd toss them in the trash before anyone knew she'd been
here.”
“Oh, Bryce!”
“Well, I kept thinking they'd stop! How long can a stupid chicken lay eggs?”
“But I take it they have stopped?”
“Yeah. As of last week. Because Juli caught me chucking a carton in the trash outside.”
“Oh, dear.”
“Exactly.”
“So what did you tell her?”
I looked down and mumbled, “I told her that we were afraid of salmonella poisoning because
their yard was such a mess. She ran off crying, and
the next thing I know, she's starting to fix up their yard.”
“Oh, Bryce!”
“Exactly.”
She inute; then very softly she said, “Thank you for your honesty,
Bryce. It does help to explain a lot.” She shook her head
and said, “What that family must think of us,” and got back to cleaning the griddle. “All the
more reason to have them over for dinner, if you ask me.”
I whispered, “You're sworn to secrecy on this whole egg thing, right? I mean, Juli told
Granddad, so he knows, but I don't want this to spread to,
you know, Dad.”
She studied me a minute, then said, “Tell me you've learned your lesson, honey.”
“I have, Mom.”
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“Okay, then.”
I let out a big sigh of relief. “Thanks.”
“Oh, and Bryce?”
“Yeah?”
“I'm very glad you told me about it.” She kissed me on the cheek, then smiled and said, “Now,
didn't I hear you promise you'd mow the lawn
today?”
“Right,” I said, and headed outside to trim the turf.
That evening my mother announced that the Bakers would be over Friday night at six o'clock;
that the menu included poached salmon, crab
risotto, and fresh steamed vegetables; and that none of us had better weasel out of being
there. My dad muttered that if we were really going to do
this, it would be a whole lot better to barbecue because at least that way he'd have
something to do, but my mom positively smoked him with her
eyes and he dropped it.
So. They were coming. And it made seeing Juli at school even more uncomfortable than
usual. Not because she gushed about it or even waved
and winked or something. No, she was back to avoiding me. She'd say hi if we happened to
run into each other, but instead of being, like, right over
my shoulder anytime I looked, she was nowhere. She must have ducked out back doors and
taken roundabout ways through campus. She was, I
don't know, scarce.
I found myself looking at her in class. The teacher'd be talking and all eyes would be up
front … except mine. They kept wandering over to Juli. It
