4 Kita Helmetag Murdock morning as boring as possible by drilling me on frac tion problems at breakfast You know this one Laney he says giving me an encouraging smile But I’ve been thinking about car seats and cold nights and have no idea what he asked Don’t worry Walt I studied this time I reply gulping down the end of my hot chocolate before slinging my backpack over my shoulder I lean over to brush the muffin off his chin and kiss his scratchy cheek Just wish me luck You don’t need luck Laney It’s all up here he replies tousling my hair I tug at a piece of my short ink-black hair Really Math is in here Ha-ha Get to school or you’ll miss the test
Chapter Two IF I CUT THROUGH THE FIELDS AND FARMLAND behind our house the walk to school should take fifteen minutes but I always end up stopping at Tabitha’s along the way She has dozens of cats all fe males and they lounge on her back porch in the sun like ladies by a pool only moving to roll over and stretch from time to time On an early fall day like to day Tabitha’s usually out there too watering some of her plants with at least one cat twirling around the mismatched socks on her feet Good morning Laney she calls out her purple glasses flashing in the sun Come sit and have some tea with me and the girls Tabitha can’t remember that I need to go to school even though I tell her every time I stop by her house I pause next to her
6 Kita Helmetag Murdock porch to scratch a skinny gray-and-white-striped cat with a crooked tail Is this one new I ask her Got her at the shelter yesterday Tabitha says brushing back a wisp of her long blue-gray hair One of these days they’re going to cut me off but you know I just can’t stand to think of them in those cages The small cat licks the back of my hand and begins to make a rumbly motor sound What’s her name Why don’t you name this one Tabitha offers leaning down to water a row of potted herbs Really I scoop up the feather-light cat She climbs up my shirt and onto my right shoulder A print of my favorite Frida Kahlo painting hangs on the wall of my tree house the one where she looks stately with two parrots in her arms and two on her shoulders How about Frida I suggest Tabitha looks up from her watering It’s differ ent I like it Frida nibbles at a piece of my hair Come sit for a while Tabitha insists
Future Flash 7 I’ve gotta get to school I gently pull Frida off my shoulder and place her on the porch She protests with a loud meow before joining the other cats I imagine a different day ahead of me one where I skip school and sit in the sun with Tabitha and her cats sketching pictures of the cats in my notebook while Tabitha drinks lavender tea and embroiders on the porch Instead I wave goodbye and continue on my way through the field to school the right shoulder of my sweatshirt dusted in gray fur It’s not until I’m almost there that I remember Mrs Whipple’s announcement yesterday about get ting a new kid in our class This has never happened as far as I can remember Thornville is a sleepy town of just over a thousand people and Thornville K 12 is the town’s only school I’ve been in class with the same seven boys and four girls since Kindergarten Nearly all of their parents work for the chicken fac tory and it’s the kind of job you take because you grew up in Thornville No one moves here hoping for a better life I drag my feet even though I’m already at risk of arriving late When I meet someone for the first time
