Promise Read online

  “Oh, good. I was wondering if it got there,” Gram said. “How much did you get planted?”

  “One thousand, nine hundred and fifty-seven,” Kaden said.

  “All in fifty minutes?” Gram said. “I should have bought a thousand more.”

  “No, you bought enough,” Kaden said. Plopping down on a kitchen chair, he told her how he and Yo-Yo planted 907 by themselves.

  “Don’t worry,” Gram said. “I’m not going to order any more. We’ll see how these take first. Why don’t you go take a shower?”

  “That’s exactly what I was planning,” Kaden said. “Where’s Dad?” The white truck was not in the driveway.

  “He was gone most of the day. He has to meet with his parole officer every Monday and Wednesday,” Gram said. “But when he came back this afternoon, we had a little disagreement.”

  “About what?”

  “He wanted you to go with him to visit his friends and I told him you couldn’t, not on a school night.”

  “He got mad about that?”

  “That and my telling him I wasn’t too keen on you hanging around with his friends. I told him I need to know where you are and who you’re with,” Gram said.

  “I was at Emmett’s,” Kaden said. “I needed to tell him Yo-Yo can come help split wood Saturday.”

  “I knew where you were,” Gram said, “or at least I assumed I knew.”

  “What if Dad had stopped at Emmett’s for me?”

  “I thought of that,” Gram said, “but I trust you would have the good sense to say no on a school night. And to tell me where you were going.” Gram paused and started chuckling. “Not to mention, I know Doris and her rules. Doris would insist she bring you to the proper destination. Your dad would be no match against Doris when it came to obeying her rules.”

  Kaden laughed with Gram, imagining Doris in a standoff with Dad. As he walked over to his cabin to get clean clothes, Kaden thought about what Yo-Yo would be saying if he had heard Gram. Yo-Yo would have Doris holding Kaden hostage in the bus with SWAT teams aiming guns at Dad’s white pickup. Yo-Yo’s influence had taken over and Kaden was in full TV-cop-show mode when he opened the screen door and stopped cold. Sitting on his bed was another gift. An MP3 player. A note was sitting beside it.

  Got this from a friend. Thought you’d like to hear something besides that old stuff your grandma plays. —Dad

  It kind of creeped Kaden out that when he least expected it, Dad had been there. In his room. In the tower. If Dad was going to give him gifts, he wished he would do it in person, face-to-face. Maybe it’s just hard for him to show his feelings, Kaden thought. Kaden put the note under the mattress with the photo album. Then he picked up the MP3 player, put the earbuds in, and turned it on. It was already loaded with a ton of music. He listened as he grabbed his clothes and went to Cabin Four. When he got done with his shower, Gram was on the porch.

  “What’s that?” Gram asked, pointing to the cords coming from Kaden’s pocket to his ears.

  “It’s an MP3 player,” Kaden answered. “Dad left it on my bed.”

  “What’s an MP3 player?” Gram asked.

  “It plays music,” Kaden said, pulling it out of his pocket and showing it to Gram. “Didn’t Dad show it to you?”

  “No, didn’t say a word about it,” Gram said. “How much does one of those cost?”

  “I don’t know, quite a bit,” Kaden said, “but I don’t think he paid anything. There was a note. He said he got it from a friend.”

  “Is that right?” Gram stated. “So how does it work?”

  Kaden told Gram how music was downloaded onto it.

  “Just no playing music while you’re supposed to be studying,” Gram said as she got up.

  “Okay,” Kaden said, following her into the cabin.

  “Now put some music on the turntable so we can both listen,” Gram said, pulling out an album from under the sink. Soon Gram was singing along about a big tough guy nobody messed around with. Kaden got Gram laughing as he drowned out the chorus, singing how you couldn’t mess around with Gram either.

  The rest of the evening felt good. Just Kaden and Gram. Back to normal. Except after dishes, Kaden turned on a TV and Gram watched, too.

  Tuesday, September 13

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  FRAMED

  When Kaden walked down the hall before first bell, Elana was standing by her locker. All its contents were dumped in a heap on the floor in front of it. Yo-Yo was sitting on the floor, searching through her backpack.

  “What are you looking for?” Kaden asked.

  “Elana’s MP3,” Yo-Yo answered.

  Kaden instantly had a sickening feeling in the pit of his stomach but he didn’t say a word.

  “You sure you didn’t leave it in Clary’s class?” Yo-Yo asked.

  “No way,” Elana said. “I made sure it was out of sight before I stepped into Scary Clary’s.”

  “I’m sure it’s at Pillie’s,” Yo-Yo stated. “I’ve seen you wear it while you work.”

  “No, I’ve told you,” Elana said, “Mom doesn’t like me to listen if there are customers. I put it in my backpack after C.A.R.E. yesterday, and when I looked for it this morning, it wasn’t there.”

  Kaden didn’t want to ask but he knew he had to. “Could somebody have taken it at Pillie’s?”

  Elana didn’t seem to notice the worried tone in Kaden’s voice but Yo-Yo looked up at him.

  “I don’t think so,” Elana said. “It was just me and Luke. And some man. I don’t know who he was. I’ve never seen him before. Luke and I sat at the back table and the only time I wasn’t near my backpack was when I brought our sundaes out. But Luke was right there with my backpack the whole time, so no one could have taken it.”

  “What about after you were done eating?” Kaden asked. “Did you leave the room?”

  “Yeah, Luke helped me carry the dishes to the kitchen,” Elana said. “But we were only back there a second and there wasn’t anyone else there.”

  “I thought you said there was a man?” Kaden said.

  “Yeah, but he was at a front table,” Elana said.

  “What was he wearing?” Kaden asked.

  “I don’t know,” Elana said. “Jeans, a T-shirt. And he had a cowboy hat. Why? What difference does that make?”

  “Nothing,” Kaden said. Yo-Yo looked at him but Kaden avoided his eyes and hurried into the classroom. Yo-Yo followed after him.

  “What’s wrong?” Yo-Yo asked. First bell rang. Voices could be heard coming down the hall.

  Kaden’s eyes met Yo-Yo’s. “Dad gave me a used MP3 yesterday.”

  Second bell rang and class started. Kaden opened his history book but couldn’t concentrate. He kept thinking about the MP3 player sitting on his desk at home. Elana’s MP3. The one Dad said he got from a friend. By fourth period, he was so upset, he felt sick. He got a pass from Mr. Herd and went to the nurse. The nurse took his temperature, said it was normal, and sent him back to class.

  When he got back to Mr. Herd’s room, he was surprised Yo-Yo wasn’t there. He waited until Mr. Herd turned to write a math problem on the board, then reached across Yo-Yo’s empty desk and tapped Elana on the shoulder.

  “Where’s Yo-Yo?” Kaden whispered.

  “Price sent for him,” Elana whispered back.

  Kaden wasn’t alarmed. Mr. Price said he and Yo-Yo were responsible for watering the grass on Tuesdays and Thursdays during lunch. Maybe he had changed his mind.

  The bell rang and Kaden headed to the cafeteria. Luke came up behind him in the lunch line.

  “Your friend is probably in some deep trouble,” Luke said with a smug smile. “Stealing is a felony but you know all about that, don’t you?”

  Kaden wondered why Luke said your friend, not your dad, but kept quiet, his eyes on his tray. When he looked up to hand his card to the lunch lady, he saw Yo-Yo sitting in their usual place.

  “What did Price want?” Kaden asked.

  “I’ll
tell you when we water,” Yo-Yo said. “Grab the hamburger, dump the other stuff, and let’s go.”

  Out in the courtyard, Yo-Yo turned on the hose.

  “First of all, you don’t have to worry. It wasn’t your dad,” he said.

  “Then who was it?”

  “Luke. At least I’m pretty sure but I don’t have any proof yet.”

  “That explains Luke’s behavior,” Kaden said. “He’s been smirking all morning and the only time Luke smirks like that is when he thinks he’s gotten away with something. But why did Price want you?”

  “Well, Price said he heard a rumor I had an MP3 at school. Believe me, he is dead set against MP3 players. So he needed to check my backpack and locker.”

  “You’re kidding,” Kaden said. “I thought they only did that for drugs.”

  “Well, evidently, Price includes MP3 players in the category of illegal substances,” Yo-Yo said. “Anyway, he searched my backpack and I was thankful I didn’t have my MP3 in there today. I usually do but took it out last night to download some more music. But then we went to my locker and Price pulled Elana’s MP3 off the top shelf.”

  “Who put it there?”

  “Like I said, I’m pretty sure it was Luke.”

  “So what did Price say?”

  “He told me not to bring it to school again, but since I was a new kid, I was excused this time. He almost said teacher’s kid, but caught himself just in time. Principals don’t like you to think you can get away with things just because you’re a teacher’s kid.”

  “You didn’t tell him it was Elana’s?”

  “No, I didn’t want to drag her into it. I’m quite chivalrous, you know.”

  “Yeah, a regular knight in shining armor.” Kaden smiled. “So did you give it to Elana yet?”

  “No, Price kept it. He said it’s policy to give confiscated material to parents. He’ll give it to my mom after school so I don’t have much time to find evidence against Luke.”

  “So, how do you know Luke took it?”

  “Process of elimination. The only people at Pillie’s yesterday were Pillie, Elana, Luke, and some stranger. Pillie and Elana are ruled out and the stranger is, too. If the stranger took it, it wouldn’t show up in my locker. So that leaves Luke.”

  “How did Luke get in your locker?”

  “That was my stupidity,” Yo-Yo admitted. “I was being lazy and didn’t want to dial the combination. I just left the lock hanging there. From a distance, it appeared locked but I haven’t snapped it shut since the first week of school. Look around when you go down the hall next time. Half the lockers aren’t locked.”

  “How come you didn’t tell Price about Luke? He’s the one who should get into trouble.”

  “No proof,” Yo-Yo said. “Only my word against his. You have to start watching some of those lawyer shows on TV. You always have to have proof.”

  That afternoon, as Kaden sat with Kubla in the tower, he thought about the day. He felt bad he had assumed his father was guilty of stealing. For years, he had hated Luke for all his mean comments about his dad.

  “But then, when Dad finally gets out of prison, I wasn’t any better than Luke,” he told Kubla as the bird pulled at his shoelace. “I should apologize but I don’t want Dad to know I distrusted him.”

  Kaden reached out and petted the bird. “Kubla,” he continued, “you’ve always trusted me. Well, from now on, I’m going to try my hardest to be a trusting son.”

  Dad, Gram, and Kaden sat at the table eating dinner.

  “Yesterday I stopped by the diner,” Dad said. “Boy, that place has really changed. All those cows and everything.”

  “I knew you were there,” Kaden said. He told Gram and Dad about how Luke tried to make it look like Yo-Yo had stolen Elana’s MP3 player. He left out the part about how he suspected Dad of stealing it.

  “I saw those two there,” Dad said. “They looked like they were having a good time. Why would he want to set Yo-Yo up?”

  “Because he’s jealous,” Kaden said. “Elana and Yo-Yo were having a lot of fun together while planting zoysia grass.”

  “Why didn’t Yo-Yo tell Mr. Price what he suspected about Luke?” Gram wanted to know.

  Dad answered immediately. “Because you don’t snitch on your friends.”

  “I wouldn’t exactly call Luke a friend,” Gram said.

  “Well, you just don’t snitch, period,” Dad said. “No one likes a snitch.”

  “The way I see it,” Gram said, “no one likes being set up either. And if you didn’t do anything wrong, there’d be nothing to snitch on to begin with.”

  “But you don’t tattle,” Dad said. “You get even. Isn’t that right, Kaden?”

  Kaden didn’t say anything.

  “Cat got your tongue, Kaden?” Gram said. “You must have an opinion one way or the other.”

  Gram had that patient but expectant look on her face. The look that said “I’m expecting the right answer to come out of your mouth and we can wait here all night until it does.” Kaden looked at Dad. He wasn’t familiar with his father’s looks but the way Dad’s eyes were drilling into him, Kaden knew he was waiting for Kaden to side with him.

  Kaden looked down at his plate, not wanting to meet his father’s eyes. “I don’t think Luke should have gotten away with it. It wasn’t right. And he’ll just think he can get away with more now.”

  Gram had a satisfied look on her face but Dad balled his hands into fists. He pounded down on the table so hard, all the dishes jumped and a fork clattered to the floor.

  “So you’re rubbing it in my face, too, huh?” Dad sneered at Kaden, then turned to Gram. “You’ve been brainwashing this kid against me all along, haven’t you?”

  “It has nothing to do with you,” Gram said. “He was talking about Luke.”

  Dad didn’t say another word. He just shoved back his chair and stomped out the door.

  “I didn’t mean to upset him,” Kaden said to Gram. “I just said what I thought.”

  “You have nothing to apologize for,” Gram said. “Your dad has to realize everything isn’t about him. I imagine it hit a nerve with your dad because he knows what he did wasn’t right either. Your dad paid for his actions. Luke will, too, sooner or later.”

  Kaden got up and silently cleared the table. He wished he had never brought the conversation up to begin with. Thinking about what he had said to Kubla that afternoon, he walked over to Cabin Five and knocked on the screen door. Dad didn’t answer.

  “I wasn’t choosing sides,” Kaden said through the screen. “I was just saying what I felt.”

  Dad still said nothing. Kaden stood there several seconds. He didn’t want to talk about it anymore but he didn’t want his dad to stay mad either.

  “You want to play catch before dark?” Kaden changed the subject.

  He didn’t think his father was going to acknowledge him, and was about to leave when Dad said, “Sure.”

  Kaden met him on the front lawn, handing over Emmett’s glove. After a few throws, Dad finally broke his silence.

  “How did your friend get a name like Yo-Yo?” he asked.

  It was a legitimate question and Dad didn’t say it in a mean way like Luke would have. Dad was obviously trying, too, and as they threw the ball back and forth, Kaden told him all about Yo-Yo.

  Wednesday, September 14

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  PAYING THE PRICE

  The next morning, Luke was not on the school bus. Nor was he in Ms. Ales’s class first period. Elana wasn’t in class either and neither was Yo-Yo. Elana and Yo-Yo both showed up at second period but it wasn’t until lunch that Kaden found out what happened.

  “Yesterday, after Yo-Yo brought my MP3 to the restaurant and told my mom everything, she called Mr. Price right away,” Elana said. “Then we all met this morning: Luke and his dad, me and my parents, Mr. Price and the guidance counselor.”

  “And Yo-Yo,” Kaden added.

  “No, I didn’t have to
be there this morning,” Yo-Yo said.

  “So where were you?”

  “I was singing with first graders.” Yo-Yo rolled his eyes. “Boy, that was a lot of fun.”

  “Why?”

  “Price told me to stay in Mom’s room first period just in case he needed me and Mom to come in. I told him I didn’t mind being in the interrogation without Mom; I could represent myself. They do that a lot on TV but usually it’s the bad guy who says he’ll be his own lawyer. Price didn’t seem too keen on the idea. In fact, he was adamantly against it. He’d make a good judge, you know, like the ones on those real court TV shows. I was just about to ask him if he had ever been a judge, but about that time Mom gave me one of her ‘you’d better shut up’ looks.”

  “You need another one now,” Kaden said, grinning. “Let Elana talk.”

  “Well,” Elana said, “Luke denied ever touching my MP3, so my parents said they’d ask your dad. They thought he might have seen Luke take it out of my backpack at the restaurant.”

  “My dad? How did you know that was my dad?”

  “I didn’t know but Mom did. She remembered he was at the restaurant when Luke and I were there. They knew each other when they were kids,” Elana said. “I was surprised you didn’t say it was him when I described him.”

  “You only described his clothes,” Kaden said, not wanting to explain why he hadn’t said it was his dad. “Lots of people wear jeans and a cowboy hat. But last night, he told me he had been at the Purple Cow.”

  “Anyway,” Elana continued, “when my dad said they might ask your dad, Luke’s dad said . . .” Elana stopped. Her face blushed and she looked away from Kaden uncomfortably.

  “It’s okay,” Kaden said. “I’ve heard what Luke’s dad has said many times.”

  “Well, what he said wasn’t very nice and Mr. Price told him if he didn’t stop cussing, he would call in the sheriff and let him handle the whole thing. I guess hearing the word ‘sheriff’ scared Luke, and he confessed right away.”

  “So what happened then?” Yo-Yo asked. “Did the sheriff haul him off to jail?”