House Arrest (12 page)

WEEK
2
4

I can't tell Mom about Cincinnati.
Not until everything is perfect.
This won't be one of those things,
the things that Timothy screws up.
This won't be one of those things,
the things that Timothy thinks are helpful
until they aren't.
This will be
the
thing.
The thing that makes up for everything.

No, Mrs. B.
I do not think my hopes are too high.
I will make this happen.
No matter what.

Yes, James.
I realize that making something happen
no matter what
is what got me into this mess
in the first place.

For real, though.
You guys.
You have to read these stories.
See these pictures.
Little dudes just like Levi,
who couldn't breathe
who couldn't eat right
who are now all grown up
playing baseball
eating tacos
laughing
talking
all because they wouldn't take no for an answer.
All because when they heard
let's wait and see
they said,
I don't think so, nerds
.
All because of Dr. Sawyer
and the surgery he invented.

This really could fix everything.
Cincinnati.
Like Ponce de León looking for the Fountain of Youth.
Like those bible guys looking for the Holy Grail.
Like Lewis and Clark looking for the Pacific.
We need money
supplies
a travel plan
appointments.
I am Levi's Sacagawea
sitting in the front of the canoe
watching out for monsters
and following a map
that is in my head
and my head only.

Har har.
No, I don't want a headdress, James.
It was just a metaphor.
Ha! That's a haiku!

WEEK
2
5

How many balloon animals equal one plane ticket?
How many bags of popcorn
equal food and hotel and a car?
How many pitches at the dunking booth equal
one fixed trachea?
The crumpled Carnival of Giving flyer.
It's smoothed out on my desk.
We have to get Levi to Cincinnati.
We have to.

Tortilla, warm
wrapped around a sausage.
Coke, cold
sweating in my hand.
Nose, burning
on fire from the sun.
Throat, scratchy
screaming, yelling, cheering.
That's what I think of, Mrs. B
when you say to close my eyes,
imagine my favorite place
my safe place.
Darryll K. Royal—Texas Memorial Stadium
September
Football
Hand, firm
shoulder being squeezed.
Heart, pumping
arms raised in victory.
Smile, stretching
Dad looking so happy.
Just like that
my safe place is ruined
because he couldn't have been happy.
It was just a trick.
I open my eyes and
poof
, he's gone.
Another trick.
That's why I hate this, Mrs. B.
My happy place stinks.

Dear Sir:
To Whom It May Concern,
Hey, you!
Hello there, Dr. Sawyer, Sir,
Hello.
Dear Dr. Sawyer,
I saw on the Internet
that you are a famous doctor
who can fix
babies' tracheas
tracheas that babies have that are not working right.
My brother Levi's trachea does not work all that great.
It is very tiny.
He has a trach to breathe.
I think you might be able to help him,
but we live in Texas
and you are in Ohio.
Can you still help him?
Please write back soon.
Your friend,
Thanks,
Bye,
You better help!
Sincerely,
Timothy Davidson

You guys really have your hands full
with this one.
Mary says this when she's suctioning him
and he's barfing
because she's suctioning too deep
and now she'll have to change the ties
(that should be chains)
for the 87,000th time today
and I will help
because I am a nice person
and because Mom isn't home from work yet
and because I don't want Levi to get a rash.
But seriously.
This one?
She calls him
this one
?
His name is Levi, by the way.
That's what I say when we're finished.
This one right here. This baby.
His name is Levi.
You should call him that sometime.
I go upstairs after that.
Otherwise Mary will call the agency,
tell them Mom isn't here,
and that will get us in trouble.
And even though Mary stinks like a triple fart
we still need her.
A nurse every day is a luxury
,
or so Mom keeps saying.
It feels more like a curse to me.

The one good thing about hating Mary,
I mean disliking Mary times a million,
is that I get to go to José's house a lot more.
(Only with Mom's permission,
and only when José's mom is there,
and only because the judge said it was OK,
so don't get all sweaty about it, James.)
Go cool off
, Mom says.
So I go cool off.
By playing Halo
and killing aliens.
By seeing Isa doing her homework
and feeling my face turn red.
By eating as many snacks as I can stand
and feeling my belly burst.
Maybe I should send Mom over there one day,
where everyone is yelling and laughing,
and pushing and knocking into stuff.
Where everything is so messy
but so easy,
where she can cool off, too.
A vacation for an hour
in José's crazy living room.

Wow, you guys did all this?
I don't mean to sound surprised
but I kind of am.
The turtle has an engine
where the hole used to be.
It has headlights
in its formerly empty eye sockets.
No seats yet
but there are new tires,
and those tires have zero holes.
Yeah, we did all this
,
José rolls his eyes, hits my shoulder.
I did all this
,
José's dad rolls his eyes, punches José in the shoulder.
With help!
José laughs.
With help
, his dad says.
It looks great
, I say.
Less like a turtle every day.
They both hit me on the shoulder
and we all laugh.