Read more about the move that brought Zing and Carly to a new town!
The truth was, I was angry enough that I could have told her all the stuff about moving that I hated. But she was only three; there was no way she’d understand, and it was likely I would make her cry.
“I’m angry because we have a project to do before school ends,” I lied. I don’t think Carly was fooled, but she just sat there and blinked at me. “And I took a ride on my bike to come up with some ideas.”
“Hmmm,” was all she said.
We sat for a while, Carly leaning against me and our feet hanging over the edge of the bed. She was just starting to ask again about moving, I’m pretty sure, when my mom called us to come to dinner. I jumped down and let Carly dive into my arms – she loves that – and we headed downstairs together.
Carly didn’t ask about moving again, and I assumed it wasn’t on her mind. That happens sometimes, that she wants to know something and then it’s like she never asked. I wasn’t in the mood to talk about moving with anyone, so I let it alone until about a month later when my parents were arguing about flying or driving to see the new area. I didn’t want to hear it, so I went into the family room and put the television on – loud. Carly and Butch drifted in after me.
We’d been in there for a while when my father came in and switched off the TV.
“Your mom and I are flying to look at some towns this weekend. You’ll be staying at Grandma’s house while we’re away.”
Carly loves my Grandma’s house, so I knew she was excited. I wasn’t because I knew by the time my parents returned, we’d probably have a new house and a move-in date. Unless it took more than one trip.
I nodded.
“They’re nice towns, from what I hear,” my dad said to me.
I nodded.
“Danny?”
“They’re all nice towns, Dad.”
He didn’t say anything, just turned and left the room.
***
It was nearly impossible to be sad at my Grandma’s. She took us to a movie and made our favorite foods for dinner. When she sat near me on the couch and told me that she’d visit once a month, I gave her a crushing hug. She’s a really nice person who knows me well.
My parents and Grace picked us up late Sunday night. When we got home, they used Dad’s large monitor to show us photos of the towns they’d visited and the houses they’d seen. Carly was very quiet the entire time. It was hard to tell what she was thinking; Butch didn’t have any questions. I had plenty, but I kept them to myself because what I wanted was never the deciding factor in these moves.
My parents didn’t say anything that night, but the next weekend, my Dad told me the house they’d been interested in had been sold, so we’d be renting when we first got there. That made me so angry that I stormed upstairs and slammed my door. I could hear Carly coming up after me, but my Dad intercepted her. I didn’t come down to dinner. The next morning, my Dad and I were alone in the kitchen when he asked me what was going on with me.
“If we rent, we’ll have to pack up and move again. Right? Or, we’ll leave everything in boxes and pretend we’re camping out until we buy a house. Right?”
“It will be fun,” he said.
“You won’t know because you won’t be home. You’ll be at work or on a trip or something else. And believe me. It won’t be fun for the rest of us. And then, we’ll probably wind up moving again after we settle into the house we buy after living in the house we rent.”
He started to explain why we needed to move for his job, but I just went to the garage and took my bike out for a spin around the block.
***
School ended on the same day a For Sale sign popped up on our front lawn. Carly asked what it was, and I told her to ask Mom. Whatever Mom told her wasn’t enough, though, because when the first realtor arrived with some people before my mom got us out of the house for a few hours, Carly started to cry when she realized they were heading upstairs to the bedrooms. Mom whisked us out, muttering under her breath that moving was oh so not a big deal her left foot. We came home a few hours later with pizza and ice cream for dinner, but Carly wasn’t interested until after she checked upstairs to see that no one had moved any of her things.
That weekend, my parents loaded us all in the car for the very long drive to visit our new town. After we’d checked into a motel, they showed us the two houses we might rent, but we didn’t go inside either of them. I’m not sure why. Grace slept in her car seat most of the time, but Carly was wide awake for nearly the entire trip. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t miss anything, either. I’m sure of that.
After that, we had one nice week of summer break before the boxes showed up in the living room. Carly thought they were to hide in. When she found out they were to pack our things for the move, she freaked out.
Read Part 3 next week!