Background
Eleven year-old Heddy can talk to her deceased grandmother, Nonni.
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So far, eleven-year-old Heddy has met a stranger living in a doctor's abandoned house, found out her brother has been injured in the war, and now she has to entertain a strange boy.
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Lester and Mrs. Collette are waiting on the porch of the post office when I walk to collect him.
His dark hair is slicked down and even his cowl lick is behaving. He smiles timidly while I say hello to his aunt.
"Don't do anything stupid while you're there, Lester. Heddy and her folks are nice people. Don't need you causing any trouble."
I squint as I look him over. There isn't one thing about Lester that says trouble. He's as exciting as a glass of buttermilk.
Lester nods. "Yes, ma'am."
She puts her hands on her hips and taps her foot. "Well, go on then. And you remember to use your manners."
We don't talk, just walk an arms length apart, him in his rut in the road and me in mine. He looks around, eyes darting from the oyster covered path to the live oaks on either side.
"What are you looking for?" I finally ask.
"Nothing in particular, just looking. What kind of trees are these? I never seen any like them before. They look like a big old tangled mess."
"Live oaks. The branches weave around each other. Lots of animals live in them. I seen foxes come out, deer, snakes are all in there," I say, grinning as Lester moves closer to me and further away from the edge of the road. "Oh, and rabbits. I bet I've seen a hundred or more rabbits run in and out of the brush."
Lester reaches down and unbuttons the cuff of his shirt. "Sure is a hot one," he says, sighing as rolls his sleeves.
"How come you didn't pack any summer clothes?"
"Out grew everything I had. Even my shoes are a size too small. Got my toes bunched up like this," he holds out his fist and grins.
I hold up my hand to make him stop. "Take your shoes off, Lester, before your feet get afflicted."
He looks over at me. "What's afflicted mean?"
"Means they get stuck all bunched up. My Nonni used to tell me God didn't mean for us to wear shoes, least not in the summertime."
He must believe what I'm telling him is true because he sits down in the middle of the road and unties his laces before tugging his shoes off.
"Now wiggle 'em," I say.
"Why?"
"It undoes the affliction."
He nods, more to himself than to me. "Makes sense."
"Lester, here's how things are gonna go. I'm gonna be nice to you. That's the right thing to do. But don't go getting any ideas that I'm gonna let you be my boyfriend. Cause you're not."
"That's okay. I like Lucille Dixon. She's the most prettiest girl back home. And she likes me back. So you don't have to worry about me getting all sweet on you."
"Well, good. We're clear on this then."
Silence resumes as we start walking towards my house again. I look at the clouds, trying to figure out what the biggest puffy one looks like. Then my mind starts to wonder what's so special about Lucille Dixon.
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Momma hands Lester several things to try on in the bathroom. Each time he comes out in something of Willis's, Momma gushes. "Lester, you look so handsome in that blue shirt" or "that might even fit you into next summer."
All I can do is stare at his bright white legs sticking out of my brother's shorts.
After we eat a snack of strawberries and blackberries, I lead Lester to the beach.
He starts hopping around from one foot to the other as soon as he hits the sand. "Ouch. My feet are burning," he squeals.
"Run down to the water, silly." I watch as he runs, his spindly white legs kicking up a storm of sand. He squeals again as the cold surf races over his feet.
The sand is awfully hot but it wouldn't do for me to run around like a silly nincompoop girl. I bite my bottom lip and walk down to join him.
"It's not that bad. I've seen it get so hot, it melted the shoes right off a man's feet."
"What man?"
I shrug. "I don't remember who he was. Just remember his smoldering shoes."
For just a second, Lester looks concerned, then he grins at me. "You're joking, aren't you?"
"Yes, I was just joshing with you. But it does get hot enough to really burn the soles of your feet."
"You think there are sharks out there?" He points to the ocean.
"I know there are. But they don't really bother you. I sometimes see dolphins, in the evenings just after dinner. They're so fun to watch. Sometimes they'll race the waves. And they jump up out of the water."
Lester scans the water. "My daddy is over on the pacific. He's on a huge ship."
"Does he write you letters?"
Lester's shoulders sag. "He wrote a couple, right after he joined up, but the last couple of letters were all marked up. Half of them didn't make any sense. My mom said he was likely going mad being stuck out on the ocean all the time."
"You want to write him a letter? Momma's got some fancy stationery."
"Nah. I don't know his address. Besides, my aunt probably wouldn't give me a stamp to put on it."
"Is Mrs. Collette mean?"
Lester reaches down and grabs a handful of wet sand. He sculpts it in between his fingers before throwing it into the surf. "Mom says Aunt Nancy is like being stuck on an elevator with somebody gassy. You can't be rude and tell them to stop passing wind, you just have to suffer until you arrive at your desired floor."
I laugh heartily at this.
I spend the afternoon being nice to Lester. And, when it's time for us to walk back to the post office, I realize maybe having a boy as a friend might not be so bad.
