Free All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood Page B

do?”
    By the time Dad came home from work, things were calm. Donal was napping. Mom was cooking. Leslie, Wavy, and I were upstairs playing Barbies. Or Leslie and I were playing Barbies. Wavy was playing with Ken. We never used him unless Barbie got married, but Wavy undressed him and made him trade clothes with a Barbie.
    â€œHe can’t wear that,” Leslie said. Everything had to be just right with her. She and I had matching rooms, right out of the JCPenney catalog. Hers pink, mine yellow. Wavy in her black leather boots didn’t fit in the catalog. She tore open the catalog and made surprising things happen. Like Ken in a dress.
    Dad came upstairs and stood in the doorway with a drink in his hand. He looked tired. It was the first time he’d been home before our bedtime all week. Mom stood behind him clutching her hands together.
    â€œHi, girls,” Dad said.
    â€œHi, Daddy,” Leslie and I said.
    â€œHi, Vonnie.”
    â€œNot Vonnie,” Wavy said.
    â€œExcuse me?”
    â€œNot Vonnie. Kellen calls me Wavy.”
    â€œWho’s Kellen?” Mom said.
    â€œJesse Joe Kellen.”
    We all came under the authority of the unknown Jesse Joe Kellen, because Wavy wouldn’t answer to any other name. After dinner, even though it was a school night, Leslie and I got to stay up late. Wavy taught us to play poker with the money out of our piggy banks. We had to loan her money since she didn’t have any. She didn’t even have pajamas or a clean pair of undies.
    From the bottom of the stairs, Dad yelled, “Vonnie! Come down here.”
    Wavy didn’t move and after a minute, Mom called, “Wavy! Come down here.”
    When we got downstairs, Dad was saying, “For God’s sake, Brenda, I thought we were done with this.”
    â€œWhat was I supposed to do? A complete stranger dropped off my niece and my nephew. Was I supposed to say, ‘Oh, I’m sorry, my husband and I decided we were done with this’?”
    Dad turned and looked at the three of us.
    â€œVonnie—Wavy, have you been going to school this year?”
    Wavy nodded.
    â€œWhat grade are you in?”
    She held up three fingers.
    â€œYou see how easy that was, Brenda? Val’s been sending her to school, so maybe you could cut the hysterics, okay?”
    â€œGirls, go back upstairs,” Mom said.
    â€œIs Wavy going to stay?” I said.
    Mom looked at Dad, who looked at the ceiling.
    â€œFor a while,” she said. “Now, go to bed. You have school tomorrow.”
    Wavy and Donal stayed. Dad made Wavy promise she wouldn’t sneak out at night, but it was still two magical weeks of Wavy’s games and Leslie’s cries of protest every time we played a prank.
    On the last day of school, Wavy went with me, so everyone got to see my strange cousin who didn’t eat or talk, but who wasn’t afraid to pump a swing as high as it would go and jump off.
    That Saturday, Aunt Val came to get them.
    â€œShe looks like a cheap hooker,” Dad muttered as she came up the sidewalk.
    I thought she looked beautiful, in a tight black dress that laced up the front and left her legs bare, all the way down to her tall black shoes and her red-painted toenails. She had flower tattoos on her arms and shoulders, and when she hugged me, she smelled of perfume and cigarettes.
    â€œVal, why didn’t you tell me you needed to leave the kids with us?” Mom said.
    â€œI’m so sorry, Bren. It was a last-minute thing.”
    To make up, Aunt Val brought presents. Earrings for Mom, a money clip for Dad, necklaces for Leslie and me, a bracelet for Wavy, and a toy car for Donal. When he got up from his nap, she swung him around until he squealed.
    After that, we had to look around and acknowledge that Wavy wasn’t there.
    â€œWhere’s Vonnie?” When nobody answered, Aunt Val said, “Oh, where’s Wavy? Kellen started that. So where is