Bones by the Wood by Catherine Johnson Page A

all directions.  He’d also recently started to reject his old cartoon character pajamas. Where he’d gotten the idea for sleeping in just boxer shorts, which he did not have, she didn’t know.  She’d persuaded him to wear the pajama pants with a plain white t-shirt, which had so far proved acceptable.  He was a good boy who was helpful and respectful for the most part, but the teenage years were definitely on their way.  He was in the fifth grade and moving up to middle school next.  She was expecting his incipient adolescence to be accelerated by that move.
     
    Giving him the space of trust, Thea went back to the kitchen and pushed the bread into the toaster and poured milk over the cereal before making herself another cup of coffee.  She listened out for the sounds of Josh getting up rather than going back to sleep as she tried to do the mental arithmetic to decide between spending gas money on getting to the nearest superstore to do her grocery shopping or whether it evened out if she paid the extra markup at the store she worked at and saved herself a longer journey.  In the end, it was the capability of her car to perform the extra mileage that made her mind up for her.
     
    Josh still looked at least half asleep as he shuffled into the kitchen, but he was dressed for school and clean.  He’d made use of the cheap hair gel that she’d bought him to do the little side parting, sweeping little quiff thing that he’d adopted for his hairstyle.
     
    She just about caught the mumbled “Thanks” as he picked up the bowl of cereal and took it to the dining table before digging in.  When the toaster popped, she buttered the rounds, sliced them into triangles, dropped them onto a plate and put them on the table next to him.  She poured him a glass of orange juice, and then left him to eat in peace.  He was still too sleepy to tolerate idle conversation without getting grumpy.
     
    Apart from a guiding nudge here and there, she didn’t need to say much, anyway.  He rinsed his dishes and put them in the sink unprompted, and picked his coat up without complaint before grabbing his school bag.  It took a couple of tries to get the car to start, and she was about ready to panic, but on the third try it caught, and she pulled out onto the street with a silent prayer of thanks.  There was a school bus which would have saved her the gas money, but it picked up from two streets away and she didn’t want Josh hanging around on the street in this neighborhood until he was a little older.  Thankfully he hadn’t brought the subject up yet.  She was torn between mentioning it around the time of his birthday, or waiting and hoping the idea didn’t occur to him for a while longer.
     
    He was beginning to look a little more alert.  “So, bud.  Anything you’re looking forward to today?”
     
    “We’re doin’ story writin’ in English, which is sorta cool.  Mrs. Dawson is lettin’ us write about anythin’ we like so I’m gonna do a story about dragons.  I think Mr. Callaghan is gonna tell us about the Science Fair, too.”
     
    “Will you let me read the story when you’re done with it?” 
     
    “Sure.  Unless it sucks.”
     
    “I’m sure it won’t, but I’d like to see it anyway.  Have you got any ideas for the Science Fair?”
     
    “No, not yet.  I was gonna see what Mr. Callaghan says about it first.  Hey, can I go round to Billy’s house after school?”
     
    “It’s okay by me if it’s okay with his mama, but you make sure he’s asked her first.  Don’t you just go turnin’ up on her doorstep.  I’m at work at five, though, so I want you home for dinner by then ‘cause Clarice will be cookin’ and it’s not polite to be late for her.  Tell Billy’s mama to let me know if you need me to come pick you up, okay?”
     
    “Okay.  I’ll get Billy to send you a text if I’m not goin’ to his.”
     
    Thea felt bad for Josh that he didn’t have a cell phone like his