CHAPTER 11
Hank
“You skipped a page.” Luna pried her heavy lids open a tiny sliver before they fell shut again.
She was right. I had skipped a page. But I’d been sure she was asleep after a well-fought battle to stay awake. I remembered Jimmy doing the same thing when I used to read to him. He was only two when our mom died. And after she was gone, I’d been the one to put him to bed, since our dad was either at the bar drunk or had already come stumbling home drunk and was passed out.
When Luna had asked if I could read her a bedtime story, I’d told her that I might be a little rusty because I hadn’t read anyone a bedtime story for a long time. She said not to worry because it was like riding a bike. I wasn’t sure how she knew that phrase at her age, but the kid was full of surprises.
I turned back to the page I’d skipped and finished reading Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs for the second time before putting it back on the nightstand.
“One more?” Luna asked, her sleepy eyes fluttering open.
Skylar had given me strict orders to keep it to four books, which I’d already known had been the limit after Luna had informed me during our pig pen repair. I’d already read Goodnight Moon, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie, The Giving Tree, and I’d read Cloudy twice, which was already bending the rules.
“I would but it’s past my bedtime.” I stood and switched on the nightlight beside the bed, which illuminated the ceiling with stars.
“Did your mommy read you stories when you were little?”
“Yes. She did.” Before Billy was born, she read me books every night. After that, it was hit and miss.
“What did she read to you?”
“I liked the Berenstain Bears.”
“I’ve never read that book. What’s it about?”
I remembered this tactic, too. Jimmy used to ask me questions to try and wake up or keep me in the room longer. “It’s about a family of bears. Goodnight, Luna Luna,” I said softly before turning to leave.
“Goodnight, Mr. Hank,” she yawned as she cuddled her stuffed pig, Princess Penelope Pineapple.
The princess had apparently been crowned to royalty after marrying Prince Dudley the Duck. I’d heard all about their wedding between the first and second reading of Cloudy. Luna had given me a rundown of the guest list, which included quite a few Polly Pockets. The couple’s first dance was to Justin Timberlake’s remake of “True Colors” which apparently was on the soundtrack of Trolls which was her third favorite movie. And there was a fight during the bouquet toss between a Bratz doll and a Barbie. The Bratz doll had come out the victor.
Luna was entertaining. I’d forgotten just how wild kids’ imaginations were. Spending time with her reminded me of my brothers when they were her age. They’d made countless elaborate forts with sheets and pretended that they were castles with motes around them. Or playing cops and robbers. Or ninjas. They would disappear into different worlds when they were playing.
I’d never had that ability. When I was a baby my mom called me Little Man and by the time I was out of Pampers that name had transformed to Literal Man. The name change had come about when she’d bought me a cape and told me that I was a superhero and asked what powers I wanted to have.
Apparently, I just kept explaining to her that I wasn’t a superhero, so I didn’t have powers. She tried to explain the concept of playing pretend, but I never got it. She said that I would just look at her like I had no idea what she was talking about and reiterate that I didn’t have any superpowers.
I’d always envied people who were able to escape to other places in their minds. If I’d had that ability, I think life might’ve been a little less harsh and punishing. As it was, reality hadn’t been a walk in the park.
The other thing that struck me as I glanced back before leaving was that Luna was about the same age Cheyenne had been when our mother died and she went to live with my grandparents. For years I’d believed that my little sister had wanted to go. I’d believed that because that’s what my father had told me. He’d said that she’d begged and cried and he’d had no choice.
After my mother’s funeral he’d sent me to the bar to get more alcohol for the people that were gathered at our house. I’d left and all my siblings were there, safe and sound. When I got back Cheyenne was gone. I don’t even remember who told me that my grandparents had taken her, but after I found that out I confronted my father.
He’d cried and told me that Cheyenne had been hysterical and he had no choice but to let my mother’s parents take her. It wasn’t until after he died that I’d learned the truth. My grandparents had ripped her from the arms of my brother Billy and told my dad that if he tried to stop them they would take him to court. He either knew that he was as unfit as they come, so he’d let them take her and or he knew that he wasn’t Cheyenne’s biological father so he wouldn’t have a leg to stand on in court. I’d never know which one because he was gone.
As an adult, I could see that it wouldn’t have mattered if she had cried and begged to go live with my grandparents, but at the time it had shattered my already broken heart. In the span of a week, I’d lost my mom and then my baby sister. The two most important females in my life had abandoned me. Which had only made Melody turning down my proposal a few years later that much more painful.
But as I looked at Luna, so tiny sleeping with Princess Penelope Pineapple, I realized how scared Cheyenne must’ve been. She’d just lost her mom, too. And then two people she’d never met before show up and take her away from her family.
Just thinking about that happening to Luna made me sick to my stomach. It also made me wonder how in the hell my father had let it happen. I’d only known Luna a couple of days, but I would kill someone to protect her. No matter what, I would fight for her. I’d do whatever it took to keep her safe, and biology had nothing to do with it.
I closed the door as quietly as I could, careful not to wake Luna, and walked down the short hallway to the front room. The light flickered above my head and I wondered if it was the bulb or the electrical.
The house was close to a hundred years old and hadn’t been lived in since Bernie passed. There was a leak in the kitchen sink. The hardwood floors had seen better days. They needed to be stripped and refinished but I’d settle for them just being even. A few had buckled and that was a serious tripping hazard for a five-year-old girl. Hell, it was a serious tripping hazard for a thirty-four-year-old man. I needed to get under the house to see if it was structural.
But the first thing I needed to do was take care of the roof. There was an obvious leak and I wanted to get it taken care of before we had our next rain.