“I didn’t say you were short. I was just wondering if you had a more formal name. Like if Gaze was short for anything.”
“Oh. Well, my dad named me after Gazerbeam in The Incredibles, but Gaze is what’s on my birth certificate.” He scratched his head with the end of his Nerf pistol.
“All right.” I wasn’t sure if I liked him or not yet. The little old lady that used to live in his apartment rarely went into this room, but her cat did. I was pretty disappointed when the fat tabby moved out.
Gaze pointed his gun at the pigeon who had flown back in to reclaim his spot. “I hate those sky rats.”
“I like them. They’re ballsy.”
He looked from the bird to me and back again. “Never had one crap on your head before, have you?”
“Not yet,” I agreed. “But since today’s my birthday, maybe I’ll get lucky.”
Gaze laughed. “Maybe. Fingers crossed.” He crossed his fingers. The hall light behind him illuminated. He pushed away from the window and faced the man who entered.
I tucked back into my room. I could hear the murmurings between Gaze and the man, but not make out any words.
I went to my bed to sit down. Officially, it was my birthday now. I mean, someone had already wished me a happy cake day, so that was that. I was twelve years old now.
I lay back on my mattress and watched as Gaze and the man seemed to get into a longer conversation. During the summer, I spent a lot of time by myself. Mom had two jobs and was interviewing for a third, and ever since I was eight I’d been able to stay by myself. I loved reading and was allowed to walk to the library three blocks down. It had to be during the day and before lunch, but I was allowed.
Mom worked hard to make ends meet. She told me that a lot when she was home. First, she worked full-time at the gas station BILCO, which also had a limited grocery section. It was across town. She always had five days of work and was responsible for covering for employees that called out sick or quit. Her second job was cleaning the office two buildings down from the BILCO station. The third job was with the building she cleaned in the evenings. They were interested in having her travel with some of the employees and help keep them organized, get their business clothes ready, make appointments, and clean their rooms and conference spaces in the downtime.
She was really praying for the third job. She said she’d be able to leave the BILCO station, but she would have to travel a lot. We would cross that bridge when we got to it. Of course, I had more time on my hands than she did, so I worried about it anyway. I really didn’t like having to stay by myself. Legally, it wasn’t allowed, but as Mom always said, we had to make sacrifices.
I let my bubble gun run until I was out of bubble juice. When I propped myself up on my elbow, the hall light at Gaze’s apartment was off. A Nerf gun bullet flew through my window. It hit my wall and landed on my chest. The bullet had a little note tucked around it and affixed with Scotch tape.
Happy birthday!
Gaze’s handwriting was crap, but I smiled. It might be nice to have someone to talk to. If he stayed around. And if he wasn’t a jerk.
Chapter 2
GAZE
I LAY IN the dark, looking at my ceiling. My new ceiling. Dad didn’t even yell about me being up. The new dad. The gentle dad. He was rehabilitated, at least that’s what he said. The going was good. He told me that a few times. He was selling electronics this time and promised to bring home some good things from the store. He started it with this nice Nerf gun to celebrate the apartment.
I should have known better than to hope things would stay this way, but that was Dad’s trick. He could make anybody believe anything. Even me.
I had to start the new school at the end of the summer. Pixie Rae seemed nice. At least she was someone to talk to. She was a good shot with the bubbles. Maybe we could throw a ball back-and-forth? She seemed a little lonely. But maybe she was just tired—it was really early in the morning.
I rolled onto my side and set my Nerf gun down. My mattress was a nice size, queen or something. It wasn’t new. Dad had gotten it from an old couple in our last neighborhood. Their bodies had forced the mattress to dip on either side, with a visible bump in the middle, so I stayed to one side. It was like I was an egg in a carton. But it was pretty comfortable, and laying it on the floor helped a little. Dad said we were waiting on my bedframe to be delivered, but he hadn’t mentioned when. I was thinking leaving the mattress on the floor might be the way to go.
It was hot here, in the city. We’d lived on the outskirts in a neighborhood. It was cooler there. The trees and the fields were nice. But now we lived here. We had to go where the money took us. I had the whole summer to kill before school was due to start. A whole neighborhood to get to know…
_______________
I wasn’t exactly sure how to meet up with Pixie Rae. She was gone when I woke up in the morning. Or at least she wasn’t responding to the Nerf bullet I put through her window. After putting on a shirt and shorts, I walked into our new kitchen. The boxes were stacked pretty high. This apartment had two bedrooms, with the shared laundry down the hall. Dad had written me a note on the side of one of the boxes.
Hey, unpack these kitchen boxes and put the stuff away.
I had my marching orders and a five dollar bill. Chances were it was for my meals for the day. I wasn’t looking forward to the stifling heat of the apartment, so I stuffed the money into one pocket and my new key into the other. After sliding on my Converse look-alikes, I was out the door.
We didn’t have a working elevator, which made moving in a giant pain in the ass. I noticed a service elevator, but it needed a key. I trotted down the stairs and out the fire door. The morning air was cool enough to inspire a deep breath. I had a feeling I’d miss the smell of fresh cut grass here. I eyed the bar across the street like it was a villain in a movie. It was closed, but Tapps being so close to our place was a possible problem. Dad being on the wagon was probably temporary, I realized this, but Tapps was going to pull at him when times got rough. I looked up and down the street. The traffic was steady but not crazy. The whole neighborhood seemed to be sleepy this early. I rubbed my elbow while trying to decide where to go first. I figured I’d walk a few blocks and then keep making lefts so I’d wind up back where I started.
I felt eyes on me on my second left. Even the buildings seemed less inviting. Most had the doors barred off and closed. It wasn’t even a weekend, so I wasn’t sure how they stayed in business.
Eventually, I came across a building that was open. The library. I stepped into the foyer just as Pixie Rae was coming out, her arms full of two thick books and a boxed cat puzzle.
“Hey, Gaze!” She loped toward me, her chestnut hair peeking out of her rainbow headband.
I tipped my chin toward her, not wanting to seem overly excited. The walk to the library had gotten my guard up.
As I feared, Pixie was taller than me. In my last classroom, I was second to smallest. My dad said I might shoot up someday, but it certainly wasn’t today.
“You got summer reading?” That made me nervous. I didn’t want to find out that the new school was stupid rigorous about homework. I hated to do any of it, except for math. That was my favorite, besides PE, of course.
“I mean, I’m reading in the summer. But it’s just because I like to. You’re not missing any assignment or anything.” She tried to flip her hair from her shoulder, but it stubbornly fell back to where it was. “You getting a library card?”