13. Luke
CHAPTER 13
Luke
TWELVE YEARS OLD
Huffing out a harsh breath, I shove my baseball cleats into my duffel bag. Mom is leaning on the door jamb with coffee in one hand and guilt in her eyes. Dad can’t help it that he’s out of town, but she’s right here.
“Please try to understand, Luke.” She approaches me and takes a seat on the bed. “I would love to if I could, but we have a really important seminar at work today.”
“I understand.” As much as I want her to come to my baseball game, I turn twelve today. I’m old enough to understand that with my sister being born a year ago, my parents would need to work more. Earn extra money.
“I told your uncle to record a video,” she says with a small smile. “We can watch it together tonight.”
“Does Becca really have to come with us?” I complain. That little crybaby has been infiltrating every corner of my life. I hate her! I loved being an only child.
“Well who’s going to watch her otherwise, silly?” I must look upset, because Mom curls her arms around me and gives me a kiss on the head. “I know it has been an adjustment, Luke, but your sister is still so tiny. She needs a lot of love from us.” She kisses me again before looking at me in the eye. “All of us. Also you.” Her index finger boops my nose. “You’re her favorite, you know.”
“I know,” I groan, rolling my eyes.
My mom’s fingers run through my curls. She stops the brushing and runs through the length of the strands instead, narrowing her eyes as she does it. “I need to trim your hair again. It’s getting too long.”
I want to ask her to take me to the hairdresser instead. I want to tell her that my friends don’t get their haircuts from their moms anymore, but I know it costs money, so I just stay quiet.
“Let’s go down,” she says. “Andrew and his family will be here any minute now. Plus, I still need to get the milk for your sister ready.”
My bad mood disappears at the mention of Andrew. Even though he’s only ten, he’s my best friend.
My mom says God isn’t real and my grandma from Dad’s side doesn’t like that, so every Sunday, she always takes me to her church. Mom told Dad to make her stop, but he says there’s no harm in me going. I don’t mind. Not only do I get to meet most of the family from my dad’s side, I also get to spend time with Andrew. We play sports now—me baseball and him basketball—and sometimes we go to each other’s games. Lucky me, today is Saturday. An extra day with Andrew! I know it’s only because somebody needs to drive me to the field and his parents offered to do it, but how cool is this?
“Happy birthday, Luke!” Andrew yells, shoving a big blue paper bag toward me. “It’s Monopoly!”
“Thanks, Andrew.” I grin as I snatch the bag away from him, widening my eyes when I spot ‘The Simpsons’ Edition’ written on the box. I look at the two adults standing behind him. “Thanks, Auntie Judith. Thanks, Uncle Mike.”
Coach gives me a hug before telling me to go over to my teammates. They’re waiting for me by the bleachers. When I run up to them, they start singing Happy Birthday to me. Most of their hands are sticky from the orange slices and the muffins, but I shake it, anyway. It’s my birthday and we just won the game. I feel so happy! Uncle Mike said he got it on video when I scored the home run. I can’t wait to show my parents. Nothing can ruin my mood, not even disgusting fingers.
“Can you take Becca for a second?” Auntie Judith asks. “My phone has been ringing this whole time.”
I take my sister in my arms, pinching her chubby cheek. “Do you like coming to my game, Becca?” She just coos and giggles. Don’t tell anybody, but even if she’s annoying, she is the cutest thing I have ever seen in my life.
A few boys from my team are trying to get Becca to do some tricks when my aunt and uncle jog toward us. I frown when I see how panicked they seem. Andrew and I give each other looks before facing them again.
“We need to go, guys,” Uncle Mike says in between heavy breaths.
“Why?” Andrew asks. “We promised one of Luke’s teammates we would wait until his mom comes. She’s stuck in traffic.”
“I’ll ask another parent to wait with him,” Auntie Judith says to my uncle before walking over to Russel’s mom.
“Luke.” Uncle Mike doesn’t look happy and it’s making me feel weird. I feel like my heart is beating really fast right now and I don’t know if it’s normal or not. “Something bad happened at church, buddy.” His eyes look glassy as he bends down to my level and holds onto my shoulders.
“There was a fire and your mom…your mom and the others…they were trapped.”
“My mom is at work,” I answer immediately. “And she doesn’t believe in Jesus.” What is Uncle Mike talking about? It must be someone else’s mom.
“Lu—” he tries to say my name again, but clams up and looks at the field instead. When he looks back at me, Uncle Mike seems weird. “Son, your mom and the others were at church. They wanted to throw you a surprise party. Your grandma rented out the rec center. She invited all your cousins and your other grandparents.” He breathes out a long breath, shaking his head. “We were supposed to be here with you while they set everything up.”
“Is my dad also there?”
Uncle Mike shakes his head. “He really is out of town for work. I already called him. He’s on his way back.”
“Are they okay?” My uncle looks at me. I’ve never seen him like this before. His lips are trembling. Auntie Judith is now standing next to him, her eyes equally sad as Uncle Mike’s. “Uncle Mike, are they okay?”
He slowly shakes his head. “I’m sorry, Luke. I’m so sorry,” he finally answers. He has one of his hands on his hips and the other one over his eyes. “None of them made it out.”
“No,” I whisper. My mom doesn’t think God is real. Grandma and the other Palmers always go to church on Sundays. I think this is a lie, but the other parents here are all whispering around me. They’re all saying that it happened. Someone behind me mentions that my cousins came with their moms and dads to the rec center.
Auntie Judith is reaching for Becca, but I take a step back, and then another, and then another.
She needs a lot of love from us.
I hold her tight in my arms, my palm protecting the back of her neck just like Mom showed me. If this is true, who’s going to love Becca now when Dad is away working? I lean in close to her ear and whisper, “I’m not going to hate you anymore. You need a lot of love, Becca.”