Chapter 15
Seventh grade
“Look at that mama’s boy.” Robbie Price jabbed his thumb in Ben’s direction. “He gonna let her nurse him at the lunch table?”
Everyone sitting near Robbie in the school cafeteria laughed. Mylie looked over to where Ben sat, at the teachers’ table,
with his mother. Most of the time, he and Mylie sat with her friends, or they ditched the cafeteria all together and sat on
the picnic tables outside, Ben drinking his water and Mylie enjoying a Dr Pepper.
Mylie knew why Ben was sitting with his mother that day. She’d recently been diagnosed with cancer, and nobody knew. In fact,
Ben had sworn Mylie to secrecy when he’d told her the week before. It wasn’t as serious as it could have been—a thyroid cancer
that doctors thought they could remove, but it was still scary. Especially for Ben, who had only his mother.
Mylie also knew a little bit about that. Her own mother was often in and out of her life, and her father had been dead since
she was a baby. She knew what it felt like to live without parents and how upsetting it must be for Ben to face it.
From where she stood in line to get the day’s serving of limp pizza and cold French fries, Mylie could hear Robbie continue to mock Ben, and it made her blood boil. He’d always been a bully, picking on the kids he thought were weaker than him. Probably the only reason he didn’t try it with Mylie was because he knew her granny would run him over in front of the Kroger.
Ben ignored Robbie, mostly. They all did. It was easier than standing up to him and finding yourself in a trash can or a locker.
Besides, all they had to do was get to the end of the year, and with any luck, Robbie would eventually graduate and move on
to the Arkansas State Penitentiary, where he belonged.
Still, it didn’t make it any easier for Mylie to listen to Robbie when she knew what Ben and his mother were going through.
“He’s such an asshole,” Mylie’s friend Jodi said, picking up the tray one of the lunch ladies had slid out to her.
“I hate him,” Mylie spat, a little louder than she meant to. “I hope he drowns in the lake.” So much of the time, Mylie felt
bad for Robbie, but today, when Robbie’s anger was aimed at Ben and his mom, all she felt was rage.
“Not even the lake wants him,” Jodi replied. “Did I tell you he asked Sarah out on a date? She said no, and the next morning,
she woke up to rotten eggs smashed all over her car. It had to be Robbie.”
“I’d take the rotten eggs over prom with Robbie Price,” Mylie replied.
“Same,” Jodi said.
The line lurched forward, and Mylie took her own tray. “Hey,” she said. “Why didn’t I get pizza?”
“We’re out,” the lunch lady said. She pointed a ladle at Mylie. “You should get here earlier if you want pizza. We’re down
to chili now.”
Mylie sighed. Could this day get any worse?
“That chili looks disgusting,” Jodi said. “Do you want to throw it away and get something from the snack machine?”
Mylie was staring at Robbie. He was still laughing with his buddies, and from the teachers’ table, she could see that Ben looked miserable. But when he caught her looking at him, he gave her a half smile and a little wave.
She waved back and then said to Jodi, “Yeah, I’m gonna throw this away. I’ll be right back.”
“Hey!” Jodi called after her. “The trash can is the other way!”
But it was too late. Mylie was already making her way toward Robbie’s table. As she neared him, she tripped over an invisible
crack in the linoleum, her lunch tray flying out of her hands and landing squarely on top of Robbie and his friends.
“What the fuck?” Robbie screeched, pushing up from his seat.
From her position on the floor, Mylie looked up at Robbie, who was now furious and covered in chili. It was hard not to burst
into laughter, but Mylie mustered all her strength and said, as apologetically as she could, “I’m so sorry! I tripped!”
The entire lunchroom erupted in hysterics, including Ben, who once again caught Mylie’s eye and mouthed thank you .
“You bitch!” Robbie ranted. “You did that on purpose!”
“I tripped!” Mylie repeated, but now she was laughing, too.
“Mr. Price,” the principal said, stepping in between the two. “Language.”
“She spilled her fucking chili all over me!”
“That’s it,” the principal replied. “Clean up and see me in my office. Now.”
Robbie glared at Mylie, who by now had stood up and was watching him in smug satisfaction. He opened his mouth to say something,
but the principal pointed to the door, and Robbie skulked out, cursing under his breath.
“He’s gonna get you for that,” Jodi whispered to Mylie. “He’s pissed.”
“He can try,” Mylie replied, crossing her arms over her chest. “But it’ll be Christmas before he gets all that chili scraped
off.”
Mylie felt a tap on her shoulder and turned around to see the lunch lady standing there with a paper bag in her hand. She held it out to Mylie.
“What’s this?” Mylie looked inside and saw two pieces of pizza. “I thought you were out.”
“We always keep some back just in case,” the lunch lady replied. She winked at Mylie.
Mylie grinned. “Thanks.”
“Don’t tell nobody,” the lunch lady said with a wink. “Can’t have Robbie Price full of chili every day.”
“What about soup?” Jodi asked.
The lunch lady gave them a toothy grin. “Next week is clam chowder.”