Momentous Events in the Life of a Cactus Read online

  “Nora?” Henry said.

  “She was our sister,” Walter said. “I don’t know where she is. I haven’t been able to find her. I thought you both might be dead. But here you are.”

  “You’ve been looking for me?” Henry said.

  “All my life.”

  And then they sat crying together for a long time. There was a lot of lost time to cry for.

  40

  Stay beside me,

  And I won’t hide me.

  With you to guide me,

  I’ll finally find me.

  — Kids from Alcatraz

  CONNOR PUT THE HELIUM BALLOON to his mouth and sucked in a deep breath. “How do I sound?” he asked in a high-pitched voice.

  “Like a munchkin,” I said, attempting to put a balloon over the helium nozzle with my foot.

  Connor barked and we burst out laughing. “Now you sound like a poufy little Pomeranian,” I said.

  “Do you need help, Aven?” Amanda asked.

  I shook my head. “Nope.” I was sitting up on the table in the steakhouse, one foot on a chair, the other one straining to get the balloon on the helium nozzle. It slid on at last, and I pushed the rubber nozzle down with my foot. “Aha!” I cried, but when I tried to remove the helium-filled balloon, it went flying off the nozzle and blew around the room, making loud farting noises.

  Amanda took a new balloon and filled it on the helium tank. Then she smiled and held it out to my mouth. I stared at her a moment. She blinked her left eye and jerked her head a little. I leaned forward and opened my mouth. I sucked in a breath. “So Amanda,” I said in my high-pitched voice. “I heard you play the piano.”

  She giggled. “Yeah. And I heard you play the guitar. It’s pretty cool that you can play with your feet.”

  “Yep. Maybe we should start a band.” I motioned my head at Zion, who was busy dropping napkins and forks onto tables. “Zion over there is getting pretty good on the guitar, but Connor’s a huge slacker.”

  Connor shrugged. “I think I’m more a drum guy.”

  “That’s good,” I said. “Because we need one in our band.” Amanda and I smiled at each other. Darn it. I liked her a lot, and I could see why Connor did, too.

  Trilby and her parents walked in then. “Trilby definitely has to join our band,” I said loud enough for her to hear.

  She bounded over to us, her eyes huge. “You guys are starting a band?”

  “Yeah, we just need a lead singer.”

  Trilby wasted no time; she ran up the steps to the stage, pulled the microphone off its stand, and started wailing out some hardcore punk song.

  We all clapped and cheered when she was done. “How did I do?” she asked, rejoining our group.

  “You’re our new lead singer.”

  Trilby spun around in a circle. “Man, I always wanted to be in a punk band.”

  Amanda’s eyes were huge. “It’s a punk band? I mean, do punk bands usually have piano players in them?”

  “I can’t think of any,” Trilby said. Then she raised her fists in the air and shook them. “We’ll be so original!”

  “What about our name?” Connor said.

  I thought a moment. “How about The Outcasts?”

  Trilby shook her head. “Nah. We need something more unique.”

  I gazed up at Lando, who was standing on a ladder hanging streamers from a chandelier made out of antlers. He looked down at me and smiled. “You want to join our band?” I called up to him.

  “Heck, yeah. What kind of band?”

  “Punk band.”

  “What can I do?”

  I grinned. “You can be our groupie.”

  Zion put a hand over his mouth to stifle a laugh, but Lando glared at him. “I’m going to learn guitar faster than that guy down there, and then we’ll see who’s the groupie.”

  “The guys from Screaming Ferret learned how to play a few chords on the guitar and were recording songs that same day,” Trilby said.

  “Well, then we’re way ahead of them,” Lando said. “Because Aven already plays like a boss.”

  I smiled up at him. “If you join us, we can call our band Alcatraz,” I told him.

  “Oh, I like it,” Trilby said. “But why Alcatraz?”

  “Amanda, Lando, Connor, Trilby, Aven, and Zion. Get it? Alcatraz.”

  “Oh,” Trilby said. “I thought maybe it was because we would help people escape from the Alcatraz of their minds as a result of the expectations society has placed on them by using the power of our glorious punk rock melodies!”

  “Yeah, that too,” I said.

  Connor had his phone out. “Nope,” he said. “Already exists.” He cringed. “And I’m not sure I want to be confused for these other bands.”

  I thought a moment. “Then how about Kids from Alcatraz?”

  “Yes!” Trilby cried. “Because we’ve all escaped from the prison of the establishment into the freedom of the punk world!”

  I laughed. “I don’t think you’ve ever been imprisoned, Trilby.”

  Amanda knotted a balloon. “So this is a welcome home party?”

  “Yeah,” I said. “And also a farewell party.”

  Amanda tied a ribbon around the balloon and let it soar up to the ceiling. “Who’s the welcome home party for?”

  “Henry.”

  “And who’s the farewell party for?”

  I sighed. “Henry.”

  Mom walked in carrying a giant tray of hamburger buns. “Who wants to bring in the fixings?” she asked.

  Lando jumped down from the ladder. “I will.”

  Dad put a giant bowl of coleslaw down on a table, and Connor and I looked at each other. We burst out laughing.

  “What’s so funny?” Amanda asked.

  Connor shrugged. “Inside joke.”

  Amanda’s face fell. “I’ll tell you guys the story later,” I said to her and Trilby. “We don’t want to spoil your appetite right now.”

  “Hey, Mom,” I said as she pulled buns out of bags and placed them on plates. “We’re starting a punk band. Since you won’t let me tat up my nubs, you have to at least let me pierce my nose.”

  She and Dad looked at each other and grinned. “We’ll think about it,” Mom said.

  “Yes!” I cried, and if I had a fist I definitely would have been pumping it.

  Then Dad whispered something to Mom and she left the steakhouse just as Josephine walked in with Milford. He gave me a little hug then shuffled over to help Zion with the utensils.

  I raised an eyebrow at Josephine, but she shook her head at me. “Don’t start with me, little girl.”

  “You have a boyfriend.”

  “I most certainly do not.”

  “Josephine and Milford sitting in a tree, K-I—”

  “Knock it off.”

  “S-S-I-N-G,” I finished quickly. “Are you seriously going to give me a grandpa named Milford?”

  She rolled her eyes.

  “Grandma Joe and Grandpa Milford,” I teased her. The annoyed look left her face and she stared at me. “What?” I asked.

  She pursed her lips. “Nothing.” Her eyes got all glassy.

  “Oh my gosh. What is it?”

  She shook her head and blinked. “Nothing, You . . . you never called me that before.”

  “Oh,” I said. “Well, don’t get used to it.”

  She waved a hand in the air. “Gracious, no. I feel old enough without having to be called Grandma.”

  I smiled at her. She patted my shoulder awkwardly and walked off to talk to Denise, who was busy mixing lemonade. I found Dad on the stage where we sometimes had amateurish country bands play during dinner. He was messing with the sound system. “I heard you’re the DJ for tonight.”

  “That’s me.”

  “You better not play any of that terrible folk music you like. This place will clear out like someone dropped a stink bomb in it.”

  He narrowed his eyes at me. “Are you comparing the beautiful melodies of Bob Dylan to a s
tink bomb?”

  “His voice sure sounds like a stink bomb.”

  “I didn’t know a stink bomb had sound,” Dad said, unraveling a knotted-up cord. “I thought it just had stink.” He looked up. “Oh, he’s here.”

  I turned and saw Robert pushing Henry in his wheelchair into the dining area.

  “Surprise!” we all called out.

  He smiled and clapped his hands weakly. “What’s all this?”

  “Surprise party for you, Henry,” Mom said. “To show you how glad we are to have you back.”

  A woman entered the dining room pushing Henry’s brother in his wheelchair. Walter introduced her to me as his daughter-in-law. Everyone was so excited to meet Walter and hear his stories about his long search for his little brother.

  When I finally had Henry to myself, I knelt down in front of his wheelchair. “Hi, Henry,” I said.

  He gave me a shaky smile. “Hi, little Aven.”

  “Henry.” I swallowed. “This isn’t just a welcome home party for you. It’s a goodbye party, too.”

  Henry’s smiled disappeared. “Goodbye?”

  I blinked. “Don’t you think it’s time for you to retire?”

  His smile returned. “Yes, I think I’m ready to retire. But I’ll still be around.”

  I looked over at Walter and his son and daughter-in-law. They all had big smiles as they talked to everyone gathered around them. The crowd burst out laughing at something Walter said. I turned back to Henry. “They want to take you home with them. Home to Chicago. They want to take care of you.”

  Henry shook his head. “I can’t go to Chicago. I live here.”

  “But they’re you’re family, Henry. Don’t you want to go be with your family?”

  “They’re very nice people. And I’m so grateful you found them for me. But they’re strangers.” Then he held a finger out. I followed it with my eyes to see what he was pointing at: Josephine. “There’s my family,” Henry said. Then he pointed at Mom. “There’s my family.” Then at Dad and Denise and the other Stagecoach Pass workers. “There’s my family.” He looked down at me and touched a hand to my cheek. “There’s my family.” He smiled. “Family is about a lot more than blood. You should know that better than anyone, Aven.” He patted my cheek. “I have to stay here.”

  I should know that better than anyone. Why did I feel like I still had so much to learn? “Okay,” I whispered. I stood up.

  “Josephine says the food at Golden Sunset’s pretty good,” Henry said. “She said they have Steak Diane.”

  I smiled. “You’ll like it there. And I’ll come visit all the time.”

  He nodded. “Now that sounds like a pretty good deal.”

  I saw Mom watching me from where she sat at a table, a large wrapped gift in front of her. I walked over and sat down next to her. I could see her staring at me in my peripheral vision. I turned my head. “What?”

  “Nothing.”

  “What is it?”

  “You always find new ways to surprise me. That’s all.”

  “Are you upset I used the kit on Henry?”

  “No. No, not upset. Just surprised. I thought you wanted to find your father.”

  I gazed at the stage. He’d finally untangled the wires and had gotten the music on. “There he is,” I said. “He’s right over there, playing that awful music.” I stood up and shouted, “Play something else!” I watched as Lando walked over and talked to Dad for a minute, then Dad put on a way better song.

  I looked at the present in front of Mom. “Is that for Henry?”

  She pushed it to me. “No, it’s for you.”

  “For me?”

  “We never got you anything to celebrate the start of high school.”

  “Well, it didn’t feel like something worth celebrating.” I smiled. “Until now.”

  “We were going to save it for Christmas, but this felt like the right time.” She raised an eyebrow. “Since you’re starting a punk band and all. What’s the name of your band by the way?”

  “Kids from Alcatraz.” I tore open the wrapping paper with my feet and unzipped the black canvas case.

  “Is that yours?” Trilby squealed from behind me.

  I nodded, not able to take my eyes off my gift.

  “It’s amazing!” she said. “It’s perfect for Kids from Alcatraz.”

  Zion walked up to admire my brand new sea-foam green electric guitar. Or at least pretend he was admiring my electric guitar. “Wow, it’s so cool.” He shuffled from foot to foot. “I know how much you like to dance.” He said softly, looking at the guitar instead of Trilby.

  “You talking to me?” she said.

  He nodded.

  She laughed and grabbed his hand, dragging him onto the dance floor, where Josephine and Milford were already dancing together.

  Lando came over and picked up my new guitar. “You are going to rock with this, Aven.”

  Mom smiled. “Yeah, she will.”

  He put it back down on the table. “So are you going to dance with me this time if I ask you?”

  I looked up at him. “I’ve never danced, you know, like that before. I don’t know how.”

  Lando shrugged. “There’s not much to it. You can just go like this.” He swayed lazily from side to side.

  I giggled. “Okay. That looks easy enough.”

  I walked with Lando to the dance floor. I held my breath as he put his arms around my waist. And then we swayed like he’d shown me.

  “I’ve been wanting to tell you something,” I said.

  “What?”

  “I loved your drawings.”

  Lando’s face lit up. “Really?”

  “Yeah. I mean, Zion told me you liked to draw, but I had no idea. You’re very talented. Your art . . . it’s amazing. It . . . ” I glanced down at our feet. It was difficult to make eye contact in such close proximity to someone, and I wasn’t used to being this close. “It looked just like me. But not just like me on the outside. It looked like me on the inside, too.”

  “Well,” Lando swayed from foot to foot, “that’s the part I like the best.”

  I cleared my throat and willed my cheeks not to get too bright pink. “Does she have a name?” I asked.

  “Still working on that,” Lando said. “I was thinking of The Great Green, Defender of Nerds.”

  I giggled. “And what’s her superpower? I mean besides using her feet like her hands and defending nerds.”

  “She can do anything she wants,” Lando said. “And she never cares what anyone else thinks about it.”

  I looked down, my cheeks blazing hot. “So is this seriously it?” I asked him. “I mean dancing?”

  “I could dip you.”

  I shook my head. “Oh, no. No, no, no. No dipping.”

  “Why not?”

  “I can’t hang on to you. I might fall.”

  “Look at it like a trust exercise,” he said. “Like when someone falls back and has to trust someone will catch them.”

  “I know what a trust exercise is.”

  “Well,” Lando raised an eyebrow, “don’t you trust me?”

  I closed my eyes, my heart beating rapidly. “I do.”

  And then I was falling backward, terrified of crashing into the gross steakhouse dance floor and possibly getting another concussion and greasy peanut shells and sawdust in my hair, but Lando pulled me back up before that could happen.

  “See?” He pushed my hair away from my face. “I didn’t drop you.”

  I breathed heavily as my heart slowed down. “You didn’t.”

  Connor walked up. “She’s never danced with me before,” he said.

  Lando stepped away. “Go ahead.”

  I watched as Lando went over to Amanda and started talking to her.

  “Well?” Connor said. “Are you going to dance with me?”

  “You kind of have to make the first move.”

  He put his arms around my waist like Lando had. I stared at my friend. My best friend. “So is
Lando your boyfriend now?” he asked.

  I shrugged. “I don’t know. I don’t know how this all works. Is Amanda your girlfriend?”

  He shook his head and clucked his tongue. “Nah. She’s just a friend.” He cleared his throat. “Would you get mad if I told you something?”

  “What?”

  “I think,” Connor blinked his eyes rapidly, “if you told me Lando was your boyfriend, I think I would be jealous.” His cheeks reddened, and he barked.

  “Can I tell you something?” I asked

  He nodded without looking at me.

  “I’m kind of jealous of Amanda. I was worried you replaced me.”

  His lip turned up a little. “I could never replace you.”

  “And I could never replace you.”

  I realized then that when you truly cared about someone, it didn’t matter how far apart you lived. You would still make the effort to be friends. Because real friends were worth all the effort in the world. “I’m glad we’re still friends.”

  “We’ll always be friends,” Connor said.

  “Best friends.”

  The song ended, and Dad put on a new one. I groaned. “Really, Dad?” I said and Connor laughed.

  I walked to the stage and glared at him, tapping my foot. “Oh, fine,” he said. “Do you have a request, my sweet loving daughter? What melodious punk song would you like me to play?”

  “I do have a request,” I told him. “But it’s not a punk song.”

  41

  It’s not always easy to find the good.

  But it’s in there somewhere.

  You’ll find it if you would.

  — Kids from Alcatraz

  I SAT AT MY DESK THE NEXT DAY, listening to the sounds of the player piano below me. “The Entertainer” song didn’t sound quite so annoying today. I typed out a new blog post:

  Okay, so high school got off to a rough start for me. Like, a seriously rough start—as rough as sandpaper made out of cactuses and pine cones. And porcupines. But things are looking up. I’m trying to go back to seeing the positives in life. And for the first time since everything went wrong, I think I can do this. I can make it. I’ll survive. After all, there are actually some good things about starting high school. Here are twenty: