Bat Summer Page 6

  “Here. Tell Elys I said it was okay, but only if she’s up to it. She has a life, too, you know, sweetie. I’ll be back Sunday night. If she doesn’t take you we’ll go out for pizza or something, okay?” I nod. She takes another hard long look at me. “You all right, Ter? You look tired. I hope you haven’t been prowling in strange houses. Where’s this attic?” She strokes my hair. I’m too old for that. I pull my head away.

  “There is no attic, Mom.”

  “Was it in a movie?”

  “It’s too hard to explain,” I say. Let her figure out a gap for a change.

  “I want to hear all about it on Sunday. I have to get going now. It’s seven hours to Montreal and I’m driving.”

  “Can’t Farley drive?”

  “He doesn’t have a car, hon.” She makes her way to the door.

  “Mom.” She turns around for a second. I was going to tell her not to call me hon, but she’s got this huge smile on her face that I just can’t wreck.

  “Bye, Ter Bear,” she says. “Have a good time. I love you.”

  “You, too.” She closes the door.

  8

  I don’t want to wake Elys up, but I told Lucy I’d meet her at the picnic table and Elys is supposed to take us to the Science Centre today. At least, she said she would. So I have to wake her up but I don’t know how.

  I try making a lot of noise downstairs. I make some coffee. I don’t know how anyone could drink that stuff. It tastes like mudwater that’s had dandelions soaking in it. I bang the pot on the table a few times and listen for movement.

  The noise doesn’t work, so I make some toast and take it up on a tray with the coffee. Elys is cranky in the mornings. She won’t even let me talk to her before her coffee when she stays over. She doesn’t get up until after 11:00 a lot of the time, too. She says there’s no real point. She used to get up 7:30 every day her first few months out of school. She’d look for work all day long. Now she says it doesn’t take all day to not find work. Now she says it takes exactly twelve hours a week to not find a job.

  Even walking in the room doesn’t wake her up. I have to pry her eyes open with my fingers. Her eyes are open but I know she can’t see me. It’s like she’s still dreaming. Very freaky. She swats my hand away and gets this cross look on her face with those crazy eyes. I pull back, but she goes right back to sleep, It’s no use.

  I go to the park to find Lucy by myself. Nobody’s there but Russell and his chess board. You’d think there would be more people here on the weekend, but it doesn’t work out that way.

  Russell and I are the only two people in the park, so there’s no way I can ignore him. I can tell he’s trying not to look at me with those huge glasses of his. Anyway, Lucy said to meet her at the picnic table.

  “Hi,” I say to Russell. He nods. “Have you seen Lucy?”

  “Not today. I was hoping she would come play some chess with me. It’s early yet.”

  Early. That’s why no one’s here. Russell looks like he wants me to go away. But I have nowhere to go. I think about going to sit on the bench by the wading pool, but that seems stupid, so I sit down with Russell.

  “Lucy told me to meet her here,” I say. He nods. I didn’t think perverts were shy. What does Rico know? Maybe Rico thinks a pervert is a guy who plays chess.

  “So…you want me to show you how to play chess?” he asks. I shrug. I’ve got nothing better to do.

  “Yes, please,” I say. He smiles like he’s never heard the word please before. He doesn’t look like a pervert so much anymore. He looks more like an old bus driver.

  Russell starts telling me all about how each of the pieces move. I keep looking over toward Lucy’s apartment building and then over to where Rico would come from if he was going to show up.

  Russell tells me about how the queen is the most powerful piece on the board, which kind of surprises me. You would think the king would have more power since he’s the one all the other guys on the board are after, but it turns out the king can only move one square in any direction. I like the way the bishop moves in a diagonal. It’s harder to think diagonally than straight up and down and across. Lucy was right about it not being so tough to figure out.

  Russell sets us up to play a game. Remembering where all the pieces go is the hardest thing about chess. Russell says for me to go first because I’m red. Now I see how hard the game must be, because how do I know where to move anything?

  I shove a pawn forward.

  Tom would never play chess. Never in a millennium. He would definitely prefer to look at nudie ketchup pictures than play chess. I never thought I would ever do anything that Tom wouldn’t do. I figure we’re about even. He gets to learn about canoeing, and I get to learn about kites and chess. And about being a bat, but I probably won’t tell him that.

  At first it seems like nothing is happening in the game, and I can see how chess gets its boring reputation. But then I take one of Russell’s pawns and he grabs my bishop without me even seeing it coming. I swear, I had my eyes peeled the whole time and I didn’t see it at all.

  The game becomes like the opposite of watching television. You have to be super aware of all these guys on the board at the same time, plus you have to think what Russell is going to do next. I can see why it has to be a quiet game.

  I use my queen to cream his castle, which is threatening my knight. Then he takes her out with a knight, and my most powerful piece is gone.

  “Man, oh, man,” I say.

  “You have to think three moves ahead,” he says. I feel like telling him I’m only twelve, but it’s a weenie thing to say.

  He wins the first game and I ask if we can play again.

  It’s halfway through the third game and Russell has just taken my queen (again), when Elys shows up looking for me. I don’t even see her. I just hear this whisper in my right ear. “Get his knight.” And all of a sudden I see it. You can look at the board for hours and still not see everything going on there.

  I take Russell’s knight. He looks kind of pissed-off at Elys. I think he forgot he was playing a kid for a second.

  I introduce them and Russell plays his bishop. I can’t figure out why he did it. Maybe he’s trying to throw me off the track. I can hear the two of them yammering away beside me, which is strange because neither of them are yammerers. It makes it hard to concentrate so I put my hands over my ears. I could take the bishop with my queen, but that’s just what he wants me to do. Why? He’s not in a position to take my queen…I don’t think. Through my hands I hear Russell talking about his son’s store. Something about special orders.

  Then I see it. He wants me to move my queen because she is in a place dangerous to his king. I hear them talking about glasses and about both needing new prescriptions. I check out the board some more, then move my queen sideways and take out a pawn.

  “Ha,” I say. “Take that.” Russell looks down at the board. I look over at Elys. She has this glint in her eye.

  “Good,” says Russell, then sighs. I got him. I really got him.

  “Thanks for leaving breakfast on the bed for me, Ter,” says Elys. “I rolled in the toast and had a dream about someone sandpapering my knee. Now the comforter has this huge coffee stain on it.”

  “No problem,” I say. “Any time.” I’m watching to see what move Russell will make. He’s taking longer than usual.

  “I thought you said you wanted to go to the Science Centre?” Elys says. I wish Russell would make his move. I want him to take my bishop so that I can get his queen. I wonder if he’ll be able to figure it out. “Ter?”

  “Huh?”

  “Science Centre?” Elys asks.

  “Uh. I thought Lucy would be here. It was really Lucy who wanted to go.” Lucy doesn’t know anything about the Science Centre. “I don’t know where she is. I hope she’s okay.”

  “Why wouldn’t she be okay?” Russell asks. I don’t want to tell them about the lice thing or her parents’ toilet-paper notes, or the lock on her sister’s do
or. Bats don’t rat on bats.

  “I don’t know…Bathurst Street sure is busy. They should put a crosswalk there,” I say and shake my head to try to convince them that I truly fear Lucy may have been run over just a block away. Like we wouldn’t have heard the ambulance.

  “Well, do you want to call her or what?” Elys asks. I wish Russell would take his turn.

  “No. It wasn’t really a firm plan. It was more just an idea. Maybe tomorrow?”

  “You think you can just order up an outing any time you want? You think I’m a professional chaperon?” She sounds angry.

  “No. That’s not what I think,” I say. Russell still hasn’t made his move. “What I think is that you have nothing better to do.” I flash her a grin, but it goes down the wrong way. She stares me down with those black marble eyes of hers.

  “That may be true, Terence, but I don’t need to hear it from you.” Elys gets up and leaves the table.

  I didn’t mean to hurt her feelings. I didn’t even know I could hurt her feelings. She’s heading toward Loblaws. I hope she gets one of those frozen lasagnas. I know Mom left her enough money. Lasagna is Tom’s favorite. It’s my favorite, too.

  “Hey, Elys,” I yell after her. She doesn’t turn around. “Relax, it’s the weekend.” She stops in her tracks, lets her head fall forward and marches on. The weekend is, apparently, not good news for Elys. Someone should give her a job.

  I pulled one over on Russell but he still wins the game. He shakes my hand this time.

  “Good games, Terence. Come again.” I can see he expects me to push off now, but I’m not ready to go.

  “Do you think I could beat Lucy?” I ask.

  “No,” he says. I wait for an explanation but don’t get one. I see Martin coming down the path. He’s wearing shorts this time, and a white hat.

  “Hey, it’s that kid,” he says, pointing at me. “Where’s our favorite bat?” I shrug. I wish I could play another game. I should find Lucy and we could play bat to bat. “You’d better hang on to that one before she hangs on to you.” Martin gnashes his teeth at me and makes little eep, eep noises.

  “She’s not a vampire,” I tell him.

  “That’s what she tells you. But would a real vampire tell you she was a vampire? Think about that one. She seems awfully smart for a kid, don’t you think?” Martin says.

  “She would definitely beat you at chess,” says Russell. He seems to loosen up when Martin’s around. Just like I do when Tom is around, or Lucy, too, now I guess.

  “Don’t talk crazy talk,” I say. They both laugh. Where is Lucy, anyway? It’s got to be at least lunchtime. Maybe Daphne made her go to Fatso’s. I hope so. She sure is scrawny. That book said bats have to eat all night just to keep up their weight.

  Listen to me. I’m as bad as Lucy now. Must be a sign.

  I find Elys at the Loblaws across the street. The airconditioning is nice at first, but by aisle five I’m freezing. I pick out some smoothy peanut butter. Elys is always buying crunchy. I think she thinks the whole bits of peanuts are healthier than fully crushed ones.

  I hit aisle six and see a bat scoping out the pasta section. I watch Lucy stuff a bag of linguini down the back of her shorts behind her cape.

  “Lucy!” I holler. She looks around, sees me and gently finishes tucking the pasta in her waistband. I go up to her and whisper, “What are you doing?”

  “What does it look like?” She moves down the aisle.

  “It looks like you’re stealing.” I can hear how stupid I sound. Like, duh, you don’t have to say it out loud. “Put it back. My cousin’s here. My mom gave her some money. She’ll get you some spaghetti.”

  “Do I look like a charity case?” She turns on her heel and heads down the aisle. I have to stop her.

  “Yes,” I scream. This old lady holding two cans of peaches gives me a sour look.

  I race down the aisle. Lucy is leaving the store. I run after her. I bolt through the doors and two seconds later feel this hand on the back of my neck.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” the security guy says.

  It’s only then I realize I still have the peanut butter in my hand.

  What a totally stunned move. I stole something without even meaning to. My heart is going faster than the speed of light.

  “I…” I see Lucy up the street. She’s turned around, but is making like she doesn’t know me. She’s looking past me, pretending to be looking for someone else.

  “You’d better come with me,” the guy says. I try to give the peanut butter to him, but he just shakes his head. He’s still got me by the neck. His hand is the size of a baseball glove. He doesn’t seem particularly angry or anything. More like a guy who’s just caught a fish. He’s leading me down to the office past all the cashiers. They look at me, then at each other and make sucking noises with their teeth.

  I feel like crying, but I hold the tears back. I’m sure bats don’t cry in public. Now Mom is going to find out and she’s not going to leave me with Elys anymore on the weekend and I’ll never get to go to the Science Centre with Lucy. I might even have to go to jail or pay a fine.

  I wish the guy would take his hand off my neck. He can trust me that far. I want to talk him out of taking me to the office. If I was going to steal something, it wouldn’t be peanut butter. I’d steal chocolate bars maybe, or chips.

  “Terence, there you are.”

  I’ve never been so glad to see Elys in all my life. She looks at me and then at the guy and then at the peanut butter in my hand, and then back at the guy again. She adjusts her glasses, clears her throat and takes the peanut butter from me.

  “Great, you found it. Thanks, Ter Bear.” She never calls me that. “Now, I need you to find the paper towels for me.” I try to wriggle out of the guy’s hand, but he tightens his grip.

  “I just found this young man leaving the premises with an unpaid item.” Security guys think they’re so cool. I look down at the floor to avoid looking in Elys’s eyes.

  “Terence! I know I’m having trouble seeing, but I think I have it together enough to stay indoors.” What is she on about? I look up at her and she’s adjusting her glasses again and squinting.

  “I know, but…”

  “But nothing. That was a pretty stupid thing for you to do. You know they consider it stealing the second you leave the store.”

  “But I only…”

  “Officer,” (I love the way she calls him officer) “my cousin here is helping me do my shopping. I broke my new glasses the other day and I’m wearing my old ones, so I’m blind as a bat. I can’t see a thing, and they cut into the side of my head in the most painful way so I’ve got a migraine to boot. Terence must have been looking for me. I’m afraid I’ve had a few little accidents today already.”

  “Like banging into that telephone pole,” I say. The guy’s dropped his hand and I feel so close to free, I can’t resist teasing Elys. Blind as bat, she said.

  She looks at me, rolls her eyes, reaches for my hand, and misses it. I watch her swat the air for a second, then grab on tight. I feel like a drowning man thrown a rope. I look up at the guy to see if he’s buying it. He might be, or then again, maybe not.

  Before he can say anything, Elys turns around and heads through one of the cashier stands. She bangs into it as she goes.

  “Ouch,” she says. I try so hard not to laugh.

  I hear the guy say, “That’s a good one.”

  I’ll say. I am so in love with Elys, I could kiss her like she was ketchup. Her hand tightens up as we make it back into the supermarket aisles.

  “You know your glasses are too small?” I say.

  “Sure, nimrod. Now, tell me what you were doing stealing. If your mom found out…” I feel panicky again.

  “You aren’t going to tell her?”

  “I will if you don’t tell me the truth right now, Terence.”

  How can I tell her that Lucy was stealing? I can’t. Bats don’t tell on bats.

  “I s
aw someone, a friend, outside. I forgot I had the peanut butter.”

  “Was it that guy with the cigarettes? Did he dare you?”

  “No. It wasn’t him. I swear.” She looks at me long and hard. Then she lets go of my hand and we walk to the shopping cart.

  “Who was it, then?”

  “Just this girl I know.”

  “Is it that girl you wanted to go to the Science Centre with? Is she your girlfriend?”

  “Get out of here.”

  “Is she?”

  It’s a good question. Is twelve too young to have a girlfriend? I mean, I haven’t kissed her or anything. I haven’t even thought about it. Not much, anyway. Only yesterday. Only once. Okay, maybe twice.

  “She plays chess with Russell,” I tell Elys.

  “She must be all right then.”

  “Yeah, she’s pretty cool.”

  We walk home through the park, but there’s no sign of Lucy. Elys waves at Russell with a shopping bag in her hand.

  “Russell said his son owns that flower shop on Vaughan and that he might be looking for someone to help out,” Elys says. I never pictured Russell as a father of anybody. But then, I thought he was a pervert for a long time just because Rico said so. You never think of perverts as having families.

  “Did he mean you could get a job there?”

  “I think so. He’s going to tell his son about me.”

  If Elys gets a job, who is going to take care of me? No one takes care of Lucy since Daphne got a job.

  Maybe bats don’t need to be taken care of. Maybe bats take care of each other.

  Sunday morning. It’s raining. I wish Tom were here so I could go hang out at his house.

  I’m lying in bed worrying about Lucy and thinking about the back of her neck. Seeing a girl in her bathing suit isn’t exactly the same as seeing a girl’s bra, but I guess washing a girl’s hair counts for something.

  I wish Tom were around to talk to about it. I figure I’m about even with him now as far as girls go. He once saw this girl Frances’s bra. She showed it to him when they were behind the stacks at the library.