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Bryce Loski

All ever I wanted was for Juli Baker to leave me alone. It all began in

the summer of 1957,before the start of second grade.

-Here we are.

–

haha

–

What do you guys think?

–

I like this place.

–It’s cool.

–

Uh,what color is my room?

-Just you wait.

-

Let’s see what’s inside.

–Hey, come on, buddy Bryce. Why don’t, uh, you and I go help unload the

van?and the womenfolk here can get in the kitchen and start setting up.

–

Okay. Dad.

For me, it was the beginning of what would be more than half a decade of

strategic avoidance and social discomfort.

-

Hi, I’m Juli Baker.

–

Hey, hey, what are you doing?

–Don’t you want some help?

–No. there’s some valuable things in there.

–

How about this one?

–No, no, no. Run home, your mother’s probably wondering

where you are.

–Oh, no,my mom knows where I am. She said it’s fine.

It didn’t take long to realize this girl could not take a hint.

–It’s crowded in here with three people.

–I don’t mind.

Of any kind.

–

You wanna push this one together?

–Bryce, isn’t

it time for you to go help your mother?

–

Huh? Oh, yeah.

I mean, nothing would stop her. I was about to tell her to get lost when

the weirdest thing happened. I couldn’t believe it. There I was holding

hands with this strange girl. How did I get into this mess?

–Well, hello. I see you’ve met my son. –

Uh-huh.

1

Finally, I did the only manly thing available when you’re 7 years old.

However, my troubles were far from over.. The minute I walked into Miss

Yelson’s classroom?

-

Bryce? You’re here.

It was clear, school would not be a sanctuary.

–Hey, Bryce, where’s your girlfriend?

I was branded for life.

–Hey, Bryce,why don’t you ask her to marry you?

–

Bryce and Juli sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G.

My

first

year

in

town

was

a

disaster.

And

the

next

thre

e

weren’t

much

better.

But finally, in the sixth grade, I took action. I hatched the plan.

–

Sherry. Sherry, wait up.

–

Hi, Bryce.

Heh. I asked out Sherry Stalls (I was wondering if you wanted to go?).

To

full

appreciate

the

brilliance

of

this

plan?you

h

ave

to

understand

that

Juli

always

hated

Sherry

Stalls?though

I

never

understood

why.

Sherry

was

nice, friendly and she had a lot of hair.

-

At first,

my mother wouldn’t

let me get my ears

pierced, but I begged?

The

idea

was

that

Sherry

would

eat

with

me

ma

ybe

we’d

walk

around

together,

and hopefully Juli would lost interest.

–But I still can’t get the hoops till I’m 16.

–Oh, that’s a shame.

–

So

Melanie

wanted

to

get

her

ears

pierced,

but

of

course

her

mother

said

no. So she threw a fit and smashed her Johnny Mathis Greatest Hits album

and

she

got

grounded,

so

now

she

can’t

come

to

my

pajama

sleepover

party.

Things were unfolding quite nicely.

-What are you doing for your science project?

That

is,

until

my

supposed

best

friend,

Garrett

Einbinder

took

an

interest

in Sherry himself.

-I was thinking of showing how split ends react with different hair

conditioners.

–That’s fascinating.

2

Loyalty gave way to dedire and Garrett, the turncoat told Sherry what I

was up to.

She

didn’t

take

it

well.

Word

got

back

to

Juli,

and

pretty

soon

she

started

up with the goo-goo eyes again. Only this time it was worse. She started

sniffing me. That’s right, sniffing me. What’s that all about? My only

consolation was that next year would be different. Junior high, bigger

sch

ool.

Maybe

we’d

be

in

different

classes

and

it

would

finally,

finally

be over.

Juli Baker

The first day I met Bryce Loski, I flipped. It was those eyes, something

in those dazzling eyes.

-You wanna push this one together?

His

family

had

just

moved

int

o

the

neighborhood

and

I’d

gone

to

help

them.

I’d been in the van all of two minutes when his dad sent him off to help

his mom. I could see he didn’t wanna go. So I chased after him to see if

we

could

play

a

little

before

he

got

trapped

inside.

The

next

thing

I

know,

he’s holdidng my hand and looking right into my eyes. My heart stopped.

Was this it? Would this be my first kiss? But then his mother came out.

–

Well, hello.

And

he

was

so

embarrassed,

his

cheeks

turned

completely

red.

I

went

to

bed

that

night

thinking

of

the

kiss

that

might

have

been.

I

mean,

it

was

clear

he has feelings for me, but he was just too shy to show them. My mother

said boys were like that. So I decided to help him out.

–Bryce? You’re here.

I

would

give

him

plenty

of

opportunity

to

get

over

his

shyness.

By

the

sixth

grade, I’d learned to control myself. Then Sherry Stalls entered the

picture.

Sherry

Stalls

was

nothing

but

a

whiny,

gossipy,

backstabbing

flirt.

All

hair

and

no

substance.

And

she

was

holding

hands

with

Bryce.

My

Bryce.

The

one

who

was

walking

around

with

my

first

kiss.

My

solution

was

to

ignore

her.

I

knew

a

boy

of

Bryce’s

caliber

would

eventually

see

through

a

shallow

conniver

like

Sherry

Stalls.

It

took

all

of

a

week.

Then

broke

up

at

recess.

She

didn’t

take

it

well.

Now

that

Bryce

was

out

of

Sherry’s

evil

clutches,

he started being nicer to me.

–

Hi, Juli.

3

–

Hi, Bryce.

He was so shy and so cute and his hair, it smelled like watermelon. I

couldn’t get enough of it. I spent the whole year secretly sniffing

watermelon and wondering if I was ever going to get my kiss.

Bryce Loski

Seventh grade brought changes, all right. But the biggest one didn’t

happen at school. It happened at home. My grandfather came to live with

us. Mom said he stared like that because he missed Grandma. That was not

something Grandpa would ever talk about with me. As a matter of fact, he

never

talked

about

much

of

anything

with

me.

That

is,

until

Juli

appeared

in the local newspaper.

-Oh, Bryce. My I speak with you?

–

What?

–

Have a seat, son.

–

Tell me about your friend Juli Baker.

–Juli. She’s not exactly my friend.

–Oh. Why’s that?

–

Why do you wanna know?

Now, Juli Baker did not wind up in The Mayfield Times for being an

eighth-grade

Einstein.

No,

she

got

front-page

coverage

because

she

refused

to

climb

out

of

a

sycamore

tree.

Juli

Baker

and

that

stupid

sycamore

tree.

She

always

thought

it

was

God’s

gift

to

our

little

corner

of

the

universe.

–

Hey, Bryce. Wanna come climb the tree with me and my brothers?

–

No, thanks.

–

Bryce. Come up

here. It’s fun. You can see everything.

–I can’t. My dad needs me to help him fix?a thing.

That’s

all

I

needed.

Climb

up

a

tree

with

Juli

Baker.

I’d

be

dragged

right

back into the second grade. Bryce and Juli sitting in a tree. Why don’t

you just make me eat lima beans for the rest of my life.

–It’s three blocks away. Two blocks. One block away.

–Like that’s valuable information.

4

–I

hate

it

when

she

does

that.

I

like

to

think

there’s

at

least

a

chance

the bus won’t show.

-I

think

the

tree

looks

parti

cularly

beautiful

in

this

light.

Don’t

you?

–If by “beautiful” you mean “unbeliebably ugly”, then, yes. I would

agree.

–You’re just visually challenged. I feel sorry for you.

“Visually

challenged”?

“Visually

challenged”?

This

from

the

girl

who

lived in a house that was the joke of the neighborhood? They had bushes

growing

over

windows

and

weeds

all

over

the

place.

It

bugged

my

dad

bigtime.

–Oh,

there

he

is.

The

bricklayer

who

thinks

he’s

a

painter.

That

truck’s

not ugly enough in real life? He’s gotta m

ake a painting of it?

–No,

he

does

landscapes.

Sells

them

at

the

county

fair.

People

say

they’re

beautiful.

–

Landscapes?

Let

me

tell

you

something.

The

world

would

have

more

beauty

in it if he’d do a little landscaping on that piece of crap he calls a

yard.

–

I feel bad for his wife. She married a dreamer. Because of that, one of

the two of them will always be unhappy.

–

Yeah, fine. But why do we have to be unhappy?

As

annoying

sa

the

yard

was

to

my

dad

it

was

nothing

compared

to

how

annoying

Juli Baker

was in that tree. “Three blocks away.” Every morning we had

to

listen

to

the

sound

of

her

blow-by-

blow

traffic

report.

“Two

blocks.”

There you go.

-Why do they call it The Three Stooges?

–I mean, there’s five of them.

–

What?

–Well, yeah, there’s Moe, La

rry, Curly, Shemp and Curly Joe. Yeah, but

they only have three at a time.

–

Yeah.

–You know, I hate Curly Joe. I mean, he shouldn’t even be a Stooge.

-

Listen,

girl.

I’m

this

close

to

calling

the

police.

You

are

trespassing

and obstructing progress on a contracted job.

–What’s going on? –Either you come down or we’re gonna cut you down.

-

guys, come up here with me. They won’t cut it down if we’re

all up here.

5

–

Bus, bus, bus.

Juli

was

frantic.

They

wanted

to

cut

down

the

tree.

I

couldn’t

under

stand

why that mutant tangle of gnarly branches meant so much to her.

-Bryce, please.

I felt bad for her.

–

Leave her.

But I wasn’t about to cut school over it.

–

Come on, bros.

-

Why isn’t she your friend, Bryce?

–You’d have to know Juli.

–Well, I’d

like to.

–

Why?

–That

girl

has

an

iron

backbone.

Why

don’t

you

invite

her

over

sometime?

–An iron backbone? She’s just stubborn and she’s pushy beyond belief.

–

Is that so?

–And she’s been stalking me since the second grade.

–

Well, a girl like that doesn

’t live next door to everyone.

–

Lucky them.

–

Read this. Without prejudice.

Like

I

needed

to

know

anything

more

about

Juli

Baker.

Juli

wasn’t

at

the

bus stop the next morning. Or the morning after that. She was at school,

but you’d never know it.

–

Littl

e Joe? He’s got so much makeup on?

-

He doesn’t age.

I

told

myself

I

should

be

glad

about

it.

I

mean,

isn’t

that

what

I’d

always

wanted? But still, I felt bad for her. I was gonna tell her I was sorry,

but then I thought, hey, no?Juli Baker thinking I mis

sed her.

Juli Baker

I see why you like to come out here.

-Would you mind explaining it to your mother?

I

loved

to

watch

my

father

really,

I

loved

to

hear

him

talk

while

he painted.I learned a lot about my dad that told me all sorts of

things like how he got his first job delivering hay and how he'd wished

he'd finished one day he surprised me.

-What's going on with you and, uh, Bryce Loski?

-What do you mean? Nothing.

6

-Oh, mistake.

-Why would you even think that?

-No that youtalk about him all the time.

-I

do?I

don't

know.I

guess

it's

something

about

his

maybe

his

smile.

-But what about him?

-What?

- You have to look at the whole landscape.

-What does that mean?

-A painting is more than the sum of its parts.A cow by itself is just a

cow.A

meadow

by

itself

is

just

grass,

the

sun

peeking

through

the

trees

is

just

a

beam

of

you

put

them

all

together

and

it

can

be magic.

I didn't really understand what he was saying until one afternoon when I

was up in the sycamore tree.I was rescuing a was a long way up,

higher than I'd ever the higher I got, the more amazed I was by

the

view.I

began

to

notice

how

wonderful

the

breeze

sunshine

and

wild

grass.I

couldn't

stop

breathing

it

in

.filling

my

lungs

with

the

sweetest smell I'd ever known.

-Hey, you found my kite.

-Bryce, you should come up 's so beautiful.

-I can't. I sprained my, um,I have a rash.

From

that

moment

on,

that

became

my

spot.I

could

sit

there

for

hours,

just

looking out at the days the sunsets would be purple and pink.

And

some

days

they

were

a

blazing

orange,setting

fire

to

the

clouds

on

the

was during one of those sunsets that my father's idea of the

whole being greater than the sum of its parts moved from my head to my

days I would get there extra early to watch the

morning

I

was

making

mental

notes

of

how

the

streaks

of

light

were

cutting

through the clouds so I could tell my dad when I heard a noise below.

-Excuse me. I'm sorry, but you can't park there. That's a bus

stop.

-Hey, what

are you doing up

there?You can't

be up there,

we're gonna take

this thing down.

-The tree?

-Yeah. Now come on down.

-But who told you, you could cut it down?

-The owner.

7

-Why?

-He's gonna build a house, and this tree's in the come on, girl,

we got work to do.

-You can't cut it down. You just can't.

-Listen, girl. I'm this close to calling the are trespassing

and

obstructing

progress

on

a

contracted

either

you

come

down,

or

we're gonna cut you down.

-Go ahead. Cut me down.I'm not coming down. I'm never coming .

You guys, come up here with won't cut it down if we're all up

,

please

don't

let

them

do

on,

you

,

please.

You don't have to come up this high. Just a little , please.

Please.

What happened after that was a seemed like the whole town was

still I wouldn't my father showed talked a

fireman into letting him come up to where I was.

-Sweetie, it's time to come down.

-Daddy, please don't let them do this.

-Sweetie

-Daddy,

can

see

everything.

You

can

see

the

whole

world

from

here.

-No view is worth my daughter's safety. Now, come on.

-I can't.

-Julianna, it's time to come down now.

-Please, Daddy.

-It's time.

And that was it.I must've cried for two weeks , sure, I went

to school and did the best I could but nothing seemed to matter.

-Juli? -Huh?

-Do you know the answer?

-Uh, the Peloponnesian War?

-I'm sure that's the answer to something but I was looking for the area

of a rhomboid.

Somehow,

rhomboids

and

isosceles

right

triangles

didn't

seem

so

important.I

rode

my

bike

so

I

wouldn't

have

to

pass

by

the

stump

that

used

to

be

the

earth's

most

magnificent

sycamore

no

matter

what

I

did,

I couldn't stop thinking about it.

-Are you okay?

-It was just a tree.

8

-No, it wasn't just a tree.I never want you to forget how you felt when

you were up there.

-Thanks, Dad.

It

was

the

first

thing

I

saw

every

morning

and

the

last

thing

I

saw

before

I

went

to

once

I

could

look

at

it

without

crying

I

saw

more

than

the tree and what being up there meant to me.I saw the day that my view

of

things

around

me

started

I

wondered,

did

I

still

feel

the

same things about Bryce?

Bryce Loski

I've never been a huge fan of eggs.

I mean, I could always just take them or leave them.

That

is,

until

one

day

in

Skyler

Brown's

garagewhen

my

feelings

about

eggs

were solidified.

-Hey, hey, hey. Guys. Edna's found her breakfast.

I mean, if a slimy reptile found them appetizing there was certainly no

place for them in my diet.

-Oh, man, that's so cool.

-She doesn't even have to chew. I mean, think of all the time you'd save.

I could've gone my whole life not knowing that snakes eat eggs raw

if

it

hadn't

been

for

had

a

major-league

thing

for

Skyler

Brown.

-I think it's gross.

He

and

Juli's

brothers,

Matt

and

Mark,

had

formed

a

Lynetta

would

watch them practice.

-That is so neat.

-How about that, huh, Bryce?

-Yeah. Neat.

-So, Brycie, how do you think he's gonna digest that?

-Stomach acid? -You'd like to think that.

-Wait, everybody quiet. Here he goes.

-Eggs over easy.

-Gross. Gross, gross, gross.

-Wait, wait. You haven't seen the best part.

-Gross.

I tried to be casual about it, but it didn't take.I started having bad

dreams.I'd be trapped inside a huge egg and this monster would open his

jaws

and

start

to

devour

me.I'd

wake

up

just

in

the

real

nightmare

began.

9

-Hi, Bryce. I brought these over for you and your chickens are

laying eggs.

-What?

-You

remember

Abby

and

Bonnie

and

Clyde

and

Dexter

and

Eunice

and

Florence?

The ones I hatched for the science fair.

-How could I forget?

It

was

classic

Juli

totally

dominated

the

get

this,

her

project was all about watching boring eggs hatch.I mean, here I had a

live- action

erupting

volcano

and

all

anyone

cared

about

was

Juli's

boring

chicks breaking out of their boring shells.

Oh, I think the last one's hatching.

It's hatching. Oh, it's hatching.

Kids, come over here.

But hey, she won. I lost.

I've never been one to dwell.

Here it comes.

But that didn't mean I had to eat her lousy eggs.

I think it was very sweet of Juli to bring us those eggs.

I don't care. I'm still having cereal tomorrow.

Yeah, how do we know there's no chicks in one of those eggs?

I used to eat farm-fresh eggs when I was a kid. They were delicious.

Yeah, well, that's all well and good

but what if we crack one open and a dead chick falls out?

Do they have a rooster?

If they don't have a rooster the eggs can't be fertile.

And if they had a rooster, we'd know.

The whole neighborhood would know.

Maybe they got it de- yodeled.

You know. De-cock- a-doodle-doo'd.

What the hell are you talking about?

Like they de-bark dogs.

Bryce, why don't you just ask Juli?

I don't think that What?

You afraid to talk to her? I'm not afraid to talk to her.

I know you are, but what am I?

Okay. Just talk to her and find out. Bryce.

How do you tell if one's a rooster?

10

Well, a rooster's bigger. Longer feathers.

They've got that red stuff growing out of their head.

And around their neck too. That shouldn't be too hard to spot.

Although, come to think of it, chickens have the rubbery red stuff too.

Just not as much.

Garrett's expertise in roosters

was the cornerstone of our plan to avoid contact with Juli Baker.

The balance of which involved spying over her back fence.

Come on, come on. Shh. Shh.

Over here.

I can't see the stupid chickens.

We gotta get them out of the coop.

Is that a rooster?

No, it looks like a chicken.

How can you tell?

It just does.

See what I mean? Expertise.

Shh, shh! What?

Juli.

Here, guys.

Go on, there you go.

Here, guys. Go on. Yeah, they're all chickens.

There's no rooster? What did I just say?

How can you tell?

Well, none of them are strutting. Here, come on.

Roosters strut? Come on, guys.

What did I just say? Here.

Plus, hardly any of them have any rubbery red stuff.

What are you doing? Yeah. They're definitely all chickens.

They're all chickens.

I'm proud of you, Bryce.

You overcame your fear. Huh?

You talked to her. Oh, heh. Yeah.

It's no big deal.

That's what she told you? They're all chickens?

Yeah.

She's a genius. You're both genius Of course they're all chickens.

A rooster's a chicken. The question is:

11

Is one of them a rooster or are they all hens?

Hens? Who said anything about hens?

Then it hit me.

Garrett didn't know jack shit about chickens.

Do roosters strut? Yes, they do.

What does that have to do with anything?

They're all hens.

Well, the main thing is the eggs are okay.

It's all settled.

Not for me.

There was no way I was ever gonna eat anything

that had anything to do with Juli Baker.

I'm not eating them.

Well, why not?

Have you seen their yard? It's

There's not even any grass. It's all mud and chicken turds.

Ew. Gross. Salmonella.

Do you suppose they could have salmonella?

It's not very likely. Why take the risk?

What do we do with the eggs?

Give them back.

Give them back? To Juli? Sure.

You talked to her before, right? It didn't kill you.

Well, what do I say?

Tell her we don't eat eggs.

Uh, we're allergic to them or something.

Come on, use your brains.

It didn't feel right to lie.

Besides, even a seventh grader would know

that entire families aren't allergic to eggs.

But I didn't wanna hurt her feelings either.

So that left me with only one option.

And thus another near-death experience

in my ongoing saga with Juli Baker had been successfully avoided.

Until one week later.

Hi, Bryce. Brought you some more eggs.

Wow.

Thanks. Did your family like the first batch?

12

Do you even have to ask?

Great. See you at school.

What I hoped would be a one-time event

was just the beginning of a life

consumed with lies, intrigue and deception.

Every morning I'd be on the lookout for Juli

so if she happened to come,

I could whip the door open before she knocked.

Thanks.

Then I'd dump the eggs before anyone noticed.

And why? Why couldn't I just face her?

Why couldn't I just say:

Was I really afraid of hurting her feelings

or was I just afraid of her?

Now, you wanna make sure you get it

When Mrs. Brubeck first suggested hatching eggs as my science project

I was less than excited.

That is, until I saw my first sign of life.

Is that it?

That's the embryo. Heh. Wow.

It looks like a bean. It does.

Let's try the other ones.

Suddenly it felt real.

All the eggs were alive.

There were, like, little bean babies inside every one.

On the day of the fair, all six chicks hatched.

What are the odds?

This year's top prize goes to Juli Baker

for her wonderful project:

I won first place.

And that was cool, but all I really cared about were my chicks.

There you go. There you go, guys.

My mom wasn't crazy about us raising chickens.

But I begged and pleaded.

I told her I would take care of everything. And I did.

Where's Clyde?

13

Clyde?

Hey, Clyde. What's the matter?

Are you okay? Aren't you hungry?

Come on. Come here. What's wrong, baby?

Come here.

Hey, you're not Clyde. You're Clydette.

Mom!

As it turned out, my hens laid more eggs than we could eat.

At first we tried to keep up

but after a month of boiling, frying and deviling

like that movie The Blob, we were being overtaken by eggs.

Then opportunity in the form of our neighbor, Mrs. Steuby, knocked.

Hello, dear.

If you ever have any extra, I'd be happy to buy them from you.

Really? Certainly.

And I happen to know that Mrs. Helms would be interested as well.

Great. Nothing like fresh eggs.

Thanks, Mrs. Steuby. You bet, dear. Bye.

Between Mrs. Steuby and Mrs. Helms,

my egg overflow problem was solved.

Then I realized that Mrs. Loski deserved eggs too.

But I didn't think it would be right to charge her.

She had been such a good neighbor,

lending us supplies when we ran out

giving my mother a ride when our car wouldn't start

it was the least I could do.

Besides, if I happened to run into Bryce,

that wouldn't be the end of the world.

Hi, Bryce.

By the third time I brought eggs over to the Loskis

I realized Bryce was waiting for me.

Waiting to pull open the door and say,

And in return, I got a few moments alone

with the world's most dazzling eyes.

Thanks, Juli. See you at school.

It was a bargain.

Until the day it wasn't.

14

It was two weeks after the sycamore tree was cut down

and I was just starting to feel normal again.

Hey, Juli. Right on schedule.

Yeah, well, neither rain nor sleet.

Huh? You know, the mailman thing?

Oh. Right.

So, um, will you start riding the bus again?

I don't know. I haven't been up there since

It doesn't look so bad anymore. It's all cleared away.

Well, um, I better get ready for school.

Guess I'll see you there.

See you.

Maybe Bryce was right.

Maybe it was time I started riding the bus again.

After all, didn't he just tell me he wanted me to?

Could it be that Bryce Loski actually misses me?

Juli? What are you still doing here?

I was just thinking.

It's pickup day. The cans are in front.

I know. You need some help?

No. Maybe I'll do it later.

Are those my eggs?

Yeah. Yeah, I dropped them.

They're not broken.

Why are you throwing them away?

Don't you want them?

It wasn't me. My dad didn't think it was worth the risk.

Risk? What risk?

Salmonella.

What? He's afraid of being poisoned?

Well, Juli, I mean, look at your back yard. It's a complete mess.

It's, like, covered in turds.

That's not true. I clean up after my girls every day.

We just didn't wanna hurt your feelings.

Have you always thrown them away?

You know, Mrs. Steuby and Mrs. Helms pay me for my eggs.

They do? They pay me cents a dozen.

I didn't know.

15

How could you?

I'm sorry.

No, you're not.

It didn't take me long to realize

that I'd traded in my old problems with Juli Baker

for a whole set of new ones.

It was actually worse having her mad at me than having her annoy me.

The way she ignored me was a constant reminder

that I'd been a jerk.

Then one day I was coming home from playing basketball with Garrett

and things got weird.

Don't be so timid. Come on, you won't hurt them.

Like this? Yeah, that's it.

My grandfather.

All I ever saw him wear was slippers.

Now, where did he get those work boots?

I couldn't stop looking over there.

And the more I looked, the madder I got.

My grandfather had already said more to Juli in one hour

than he'd said to me in the whole time he'd been living with us.

I was pretty sure I'd never seen him laugh.

And what was his deal with Juli Baker?

Hi, Grandpa.

Juli told me about the eggs.

You know, Bryce

one's character is set at an early age.

I'd hate to see you swim out so far you can't swim back.

Sir?

It's about honesty, son.

Sometimes a little discomfort in the beginning

can save a whole lot of pain down the road.

When it came to holding a grudge, Juli Baker was truly impressive.

All week I tried to approach her at school.

She'd always find some way to duck me.

And whenever she was in her yard, Grandpa was always there with her.

Finally, one Saturday I saw my opening.

My grandfather had gone into town to buy some Bengay.

I guess the yard work was starting to get to him.

16

It's looking real good.

Thanks. Chet did most of it.

I'm sorry for what I did.

I just don't get it, Bryce. Why didn't you just tell me?

I don't know. It was dumb.

And I shouldn't have said anything about your yard, either.

It wasn't right.

Maybe it's all for the best.

I mean, look, I learned so much from Chet, it's amazing.

You're lucky.

I don't even have grandparents anymore.

I feel sorry for him.

He misses your grandma.

Can you believe it? He says I remind him of her.

What? I know. That's what I said.

But he meant it in a nice way. Something about her spirit.

Yeah.

Good luck with the grass. I'm sure it'll come up great.

Thanks.

I guess I'll see you around.

I guess so.

While Juli's acceptance of my apology was not all that I'd hoped for

at least the eggs thing was finally behind me.

The first time in months I could truly enjoy Bonanza.

Where you going and why you dressed like that?

Skyler's.

Matt and Mark are bringing over recording stuff

and they're gonna make a demo.

Demo? Like they know how to make a demo.

You don't even know them.

I don't have to. I know the type.

You don't know anything. Don't talk to me like that.

I'm late. Be back by .

Yep. Everything was back to normal.

Is that girl working you too hard?

That girl's name is Juli. And, no, she isn't working me too hard.

You've developed quite a soft spot for her, huh?

Steven.

17

No, Patsy. Just wanna find out why your father has the energy

to befriend a complete stranger

when he won't throw a baseball around with his own grandson.

It's okay, Dad. No, it's not okay.

Juli reminds him of Grandma.

Of Renee? Heh.

That's ridiculous.

You know why the Bakers haven't fixed their yard?

Yeah, because he's too busy with his paint-by-numbers kit.

If you had a brother with a severe handicap, what would you do?

What the hell does that have to do with anything?

Juli's father has a retarded brother.

So what? He's not the gardener, is he? Heh.

Steven.

It was a joke.

You know, other people have family troubles

and they manage to mow their own lawns.

I don't know where their pride in ownership is.

They don't own that house.

The landlord's supposed to maintain it.

Mr. Baker puts every extra penny he has into caring for his brother.

Don't they have government facilities for that sort of thing?

Maybe they thought that a private facility would be better for him.

Either way, it's not our fault

that their family has some chromosomal abnormality.

It has nothing to do with chromosomes.

When Juli's uncle was born,

he had the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck.

If he'd had enough oxygen,

he would've been a perfect little baby, just like your son.

Goddamn it, Chet.

Patsy? Patsy? Leave me alone!

Sorry about that.

Why is Mom so upset?

Because

but for the grace of God

your mother could be standing in Mr. Baker's shoes.

Did her brother have the cord wrapped around his neck too?

18

You did.

Luckily, the doctor who delivered you was on the ball

and got it untangled

but it easily could've gone the other way.

Wanna go for a walk? Huh?

I find it helps clear the mind.

What would they have done with me?

You can't dwell on something that might've been, Bryce.

The way my dad was talking,

sounds like he would've thrown me in a nuthouse.

No, no. Now, that's not fair.

You can't condemn him for something he hasn't done.

This is where that tree was, wasn't it?

Yeah.

Must've been a spectacular view.

She's quite a girl.

Some of us get dipped in flat

some in satin

some in gloss.

But every once in a while

you find someone who's iridescent.

And when you do

nothing will ever compare.

Flat, glossy, iridescent?

What the hell did that mean?

Juli Baker had always just seemed plain to me.

Until now.

And the way she talked about what it felt like to be up in that tree

to be held above the earth, brushed by the wind.

Who in junior high talks like that?

This weird feeling started taking over in the pit of my stomach

and I didn't like it.

I was slipping, man.

And it was time to get a grip.

I'd never been embarrassed by where we lived before.

I also never really thought about money.

I knew we weren't rich, but I didn't feel like we were missing anything.

That is, until Bryce Loski called our home a complete mess.

19

* What's your name? * * What's your name? *

* Is it Mary or Sue? *

* What's your name? *

* Do I stand a chance with you? *

* It's so hard to find a personality *

* With charms like yours for me *

I had to do something and I knew what it was.

* What's your name? *

Oh, you're sounding really good.

We'll record it in Skyler's garage.

That's a wonderful project.

Speaking of projects,

I was thinking it might be cool to fix up the yard.

What? I mean, how much can grass seed cost?

I could plant a lawn, maybe some flowers.

I could even put up a fence.

Honey, that's a major undertaking.

I could pay for it with my egg money.

No. That's your money.

The landlord should be the one taking care of all this.

But he doesn't. And we live here.

And it looks so bad.

Jules.

What's going on?

Nothing, Dad.

It's okay, sweetheart.

You can tell us.

The Loskis have been throwing away my eggs

because they're afraid of salmonella.

Because our yard is such a mess.

Did Patsy say that?

No. Bryce did.

But it must have been a family discussion.

A boy doesn't come up with that on his own.

Who cares what they think?

Yeah, who cares?

I care. Trina.

Let's not get into this.

20

No, I'm tired of living like this, Richard.

I'm tired of having to take temp jobs just to make ends meet.

I'm tired of having to push a chair up against the washing machine

just to keep the door shut.

I'm tired of having to borrow Mrs. Steuby's vacuum cleaner

every time ours breaks down.

Do you think this is the life I pictured for us?

Sometimes you have to sacrifice to do the right thing.

We always end up agreeing that Devonhurst is the right thing for Daniel.

Well, maybe we should start thinking about what's right for us.

Our daughter is suffering because we won't fix up our own yard.

It's not our yard.

How can you say that, Richard? How?

We've lived here for years

and for years we've been saying it's temporary, but it's not.

This is our home.

Is it wrong to wanna live somewhere you can be proud of?

To have enough to send your kids to college?

Maybe it's time we considered government care.

We are not moving my brother.

He's more important than your own children?

Dad! How dare you!

Stop it, Dad! Please, just stop.

I'm sorry. Julianna, this is not your fault.

We'll work this out, I promise.

That was the first time

I ever heard my parents really yell at each other.

I'm sorry about tonight.

That night they each came into my room.

My father talked about his brother and how much he loved him

and how he promised his parents he'd always take care of him.

My mother talked about how much she loved my father

for his strength and kind heart.

When she kissed me good night

she whispered that of all her many blessings, I was her best.

I felt sorry for my father.

I felt sorry for my mother.

But most of all, I felt lucky for me that they were mine.

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