Read It's a Little Haywire for Free Online

sorry, I’m just curious. I’ve never
met anyone who didn’t live in a house or condo before.”
    “No harm,” Mr. Red says. “We manage.
Nothing for your young head to worry about.”
    Mr. Red leaves and I’m alone with the
guy in the box. I hear his stomach growl and we both grow rosy with
embarrassment. I feel especially bad because I have money in my
pocket.
    “Do you need some money?”
    The guy in the box gets that hard cold
look again. “I don’t need your charity, boy.”
    Those are the first words I’ve heard him
speak.
    “I just thought...” The guy in the box’s
eyes flit away from my face. He focuses on something down the
alley, something that’s not me, and I get the message that our
little visit is over. I stand up and brush the dead grass off my
legs. “Okay, well, I should go now. Bye.” He nods and I bolt.
    I’m halfway home before I stop jogging.
I feel bad for the guy in the box and Mr. Red, but what can I do?
I’m just a kid. But someone has to do something, don’t they? I
decide to talk to Gramps about it as soon as I see him.
    Except that he’s not alone. Mrs.
Pershishnick is here. It didn’t seem that long ago since I’d spied
on her at her shop. Is it possible that time actually sped up for a
change?
    Mrs. Pershishnick waits at the kitchen
table, her hands folded in her lap. She’s wearing a green dress and
has a flower attached to her perm.
    “Hello, Owen,” she says when she sees
me.
    “Hi, Mrs. Pershishnick.” The last thing
I want is to be sucked into a conversation with her. “Um, I’m just
going to go find Gramps.”
    Gramps is coming out of his bedroom.
He’s all dressed up too. A tie and everything.
    “What’s going on?” I can hear the
accusation in my voice but if Gramps heard it, he’s acting like he
didn’t.
    “There’s a dance going on in Edson,”
Gramps says while he messes with a shoehorn to get his dancing
shoes on.
    “What kind of dance?” I’m picturing
something like the lame dances we have at our middle school, with a
DJ and stuff. I can’t picture Gramps shaking his bootie like that.
At least I hope not.
    “Ballroom. I haven’t danced in ages, not
since...” He doesn’t finish, but I know the ending. Not since Gran
died.
    “But, what about me?” Suddenly I wish I
were six. I don’t want Gramps to go out with Annabelle
Pershishnick. Is it like a date? Isn’t he a little old for that? I
mean, is Annabelle his girlfriend? I haven’t even had a girlfriend
yet, and now my Gramps does? That’s just weird.
    Gramps does this tricky double step when
he sees Mrs. Pershishnick in her green dress.
    He sings, “ A white sport coat and a pink carnation, I’m on my way to the
dance.”
    Mrs. Pershishnick giggles like a seventh
grader.
    “Gramps?” I didn’t like him singing to
her.
    “You’re okay for a little while, right?
We won’t be late. Just watch TV or read a book?” Man, everyone is
ditching me. I really must stink.
    “Ah, sure, but can you wait until I’ve
had my shower before you go?” No way did I want to go to the
dungeon with no one else in the house.
    Gramps waits and when I’m done they get
up to leave. “I’ll be home before you know it. Annabelle has one of
them cell phones. I’ve left the number on the counter if you need
to get me.”
    I make myself a peanut butter and jam
sandwich and then I sit at the table with my plate and glass of
milk and eat in the silence. Daisy is lying by the front door, but
is sleeping like usual. The house feels really quiet and strange.
Suddenly I just need to get outside. I don’t even finish my
dinner.
    I find myself in the back yard
with a strong itch to chuck rocks at something. I head for the log
and before I know it I’m pitching stones into the creek as hard as
I can. Pitch . I can’t help the
guy in the box. Pitch . I can’t
stop Gramps from dancing with Annabelle Pershishnick. Pitch. I can’t make Mikala hang out
with me. Pitch . I can’t get my
own mother to