Another Kind of Hurricane by Tamara Ellis Smith Page A

for a math test, no matter how many practice problems his teacher gave.
    He was never prepared for how lonely he felt at his dad’s house, even though he had gone there every Monday for the last six years of his life and his dad had a houseful of kids.
    No, he was not prepared.
    Jake laughed. “Me neither,” he said before Henry had even opened his mouth. “Being prepared is not the issue. The issue is what you do when you’re taken by surprise.”
    “Here—” said a voice.
    Who was that? Henry leaned around Jake to look down at the ground. Talk about a surprise—a bad surprise! Nopie! Nopie was talking to Jake. “Some apple pie. I thought you could eat it on the ride.”
    “That was mighty thoughtful of you,” said Jake. “Thank you. And thank your mom for me, okay?”
    “Okay,” said Nopie. “Good luck down there.”
    “Thanks.”
    Nopie stared up at Jake with his crazy-wide turtle eyes.
Jeez
. Wasn’t he going to leave?
    “Aren’t you going to wish me good luck too?” said Nopie finally.
    “Good luck?” asked Jake.
    “For finding Tiger.”
    Oh man! Give it up, Nopie
. Didn’t he know he wasn’t going to find him?
    There was another, smaller pause, and then Jake said quietly, “Good luck, then, Nopie.”
    And then Jake slammed the door shut and started up the truck.
    He turned onto the highway and opened the window. A thin sliver of wind found its way through the crack and blew across Henry’s face, and he felt freer and freer as they moved farther and farther away from the mountain.

marble journey part IV

TAVIUS TATE
    In the end, Tavius and Pierre had gone for coffee
and
a walk. And then for pie and another walk, and finally they ended up back at the Salvation Army, where they sat on the front steps and talked for the rest of the night.
    Tavius put his fingers on the sides of his head and wiggled them like anntenae reaching for the early-morning light. The sun warmed his face and matched the cozy feeling that grew the more he talked with Pierre. He grinned and snapped his fingers, still up high in the air. He was excited.
    Truth be told, Tavius was excited to be staying at Skeet’s house too. Of course he wasn’t happy that Hurricane Katrina had descended upon them all, knocking them upside their heads and back down their backsides. But, as he slung the bag of clothes over his shoulder, whistling as he walked the eleven blocks back to Skeet’s house, he had to admit that he liked living with his brothers again.
    He saw them plenty. It wasn’t about not seeing them. He and Skeet went to Enzo’s once a week after work for a cold glass of something sweet, to shoot the breeze and sing a few songs up on the roof. He looked forward to that.
    But this was better. Lots more chances for laughing. There was nothing better in the whole wide world than a joke catching the funny bone by surprise. Enzo and Skeet were full of the kind that sent Tavius into snorting, wheezing, knee-slapping fits of laughter.
    He loved living with Enzo’s sharp-as-a-tack kid, Osprey. That was the truest truth to tell. And Ms. Cyn, who reminded him of his mama, he loved her too. And truth be told one more ever-loving time—he was growing fond of Ben and Zavion too.
    Just the night before, the seven of them had sat in the kitchen after supper, drinking sweet tea and eating the last bits of Zavion’s bread until they all thought they would burst. Then Osprey turned off the lights and said—
    Lady and Gentlemen, I will now perform a song for your enjoyment—
    Seriously, where did the kid get this stuff?
    But first, a public service announcement for the lady: rest assured, there are no creepy snakes in this kitchen—
    Which began the laughter, and then Osprey proceeded to sing her rendition of “When the Saints Go Marching In,” onlyshe sang
sanes
instead of
saints
, which made a whole lot more sense and which set off a whole other round of laughter. Even Zavion smiled the littlest bit, which warmed up Tavius’s heart