Broken Flower (Early Spring 1)

"Sorry." he said again. He handed Daddy the bill for the new toilet and left.

"I'll just take care of this myself," Daddy said. "No need to bother my mother about it, now that I think of it."

"That's a good idea, Christopher,'" Mama said. "No need to bother your mother."

"Really, Caroline, she'll just take it out on Mr. Pitts. Why should we get him into trouble over something like this?"

She looked at him in the strangest way. I thought.

"Well, at leastI'm happy you're protecting someone from your mother," she said.

Daddy just laughed and went into the living room to watch the end of a baseball game.

Ian came to my room and gave me my birthday present book. "After breakfast, were going to hook up with Flora and Addison," he said. "Morning's the best time to catch sight of the black bear."

I wasn't too happy about surprising a bear in the woods, but Ian assured me that if we kept our distance, we'd be fine and it would be an experience I would not soon forget.

"It'll be interesting watching it for a while and then we'll go looking for some carnivorous plants. You can talk to Flora. She won't mind questions, but don't let her brother hear any of it," he advised. "He's a bit of a dork."

"What's a dork?"

"Goof. You'll see," Ian said.

"How did you learn so much about them so fast?" I asked him.

"People reveal themselves very quickly to you if you're observant."

"What's that mean?"

"You listen to how they talk, carefully watch what they do, how they act, their facial expressions, everything," he explained, a little impatient with me. "Just don't be oblivious.'"

"I don't know what oblivious means, Ian."

"Jordan, for now, take my word for everything, will you? It will save time," he added, returning to his usual impatience when it came to talking to me. "I'm setting up my stuff "

He left to arrange his microscope and his computer equipment in his room. Mama came in soon afterward and placed my medicine on my dresser.

"I'll come in every morning as soon as I'm up and make sure you do it," she told me. She looked around the room. Is everything okay in here?"

"Yes, Mama."

She smiled. "We'll have a good time here despite the rocky start," she promised. "Any problems, cramps, anything?"

I shook my head. Could the medicine have already begun to work?

"Okay." She glanced at the book Ian had given me. It was on the table by my bed. A wave of sadness washed over her face and then she sighed, shook her head, and forced a smile. "Don't forget to brush your teeth," she said, and left.

I guess I was more tired than I had thought because I fell asleep very quickly that first night in the cabin, and if I had any dreams, bad or otherwise. I didn't remember them. As she promised. Mama was right there when I woke up to give me my medicine and make sure I took it correctly. At breakfast Daddy asked Ian to go with him to try out the boat, but Ian was determined to meet Flora and Addison.

"How can you not want to go in the boat, Ian? If you don't want to waterski, there must be interesting things to see on the lake, too, at least,"

"Next time," Ian said. "I met some kids and we're going to look for carnivorous plants." Wisely, he said nothing about the bear.

"Carnivorous plants?" Daddy looked at me and Mama. "What about you two?"

"Sure," Mama said. "We'll go. Right, Jordan?"

"I wanted to go with Ian," I said.