The Original Ginny Moon. Benjamin Ludwig

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       6

       6:45 IN THE MORNING, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10TH

      It is 6:45 which means it is time for school. I have my backpack on and my flute case and I am wearing my watch. I wear my watch everywhere I go except the shower.

      My Forever Dad is with me. Usually he stands in the screen porch while I go out to get on the bus but today he wanted to come along. We are walking across the grass to where the bus comes which is at the end of the driveway. We pass the tire tracks. On the ground near one of the tracks I see a white plastic box so I pick it up. It is a Tic Tac box with five white Tic Tacs inside. I hold the box up and count the Tic Tacs two more times. I shake them. They rattle.

      “What’s that?” my Forever Dad says.

      I don’t answer. Gloria always had Tic Tacs. She always smelled like Tic Tacs and cigarettes. White ones were her favorite.

      Then I remember that the curtains in the screen porch smelled like cigarettes too.

      I look at my Forever Dad and shake the Tic Tacs. I point to them. “These are from Gloria,” I say.

      My Forever Dad makes a breathing sound with his mouth. He nods. “Yes, they probably are,” he says.

      Then he takes them because he says they might be dirty even though I promise not to eat any.

      “How did they get here?” I say.

      “Well...” he says but then he doesn’t say anything else.

      What this means is that Gloria came here to the Blue House. Yesterday. That was where the tire tracks came from. She was the angry person. She came when I was at school. Then she peeled out and left. Which means she came to the wrong place. Which means I won’t be able to run out to the parking lot to see if my Baby Doll is in the Green Car with her. I won’t be able to go back to the apartment and check inside the suitcase.

      To make sure I say, “Did Gloria come to the Blue House yesterday?”

      “Yes,” my Forever Dad says. “Gloria came to the Blue House yesterday.”

      “Did she bring my Baby Doll?”

      He gets a funny look on his face. “No, she didn’t bring your Baby Doll. Ginny, I know you don’t like us to even say it, but if you want a new doll, we’ll get you one. Do you want to go to the toy store this afternoon?”

      “No, thank you, I don’t want to go to the toy store.” I use my friendly voice even though it makes me really mad when people ask that question. “When is she coming back?”

      “She isn’t coming back. She scared your mom pretty badly and made quite a scene. She even ran over our mailbox.”

      I don’t know what quite a scene is but I know that when Gloria is angry she yells a lot and fights. She breaks things and hits.

      I look at the mailbox. It is lying on the ground with its side all bent and its door open. Like a mouth, not moving.

      “Ginny?”

      I come up out of my brain. “What?” I say.

      “I said she isn’t coming back. The police came to tell her she isn’t allowed to visit.”

      But I know that Gloria never does what the police tell her. She is very sneaky. I know she wants to come back and I know I have to help her. I have to find out if I’m too late. Even though I’m scared. Even though Gloria gets really violent and is completely unreliable which is what one of the social workers said. I have to know what happened to my Baby Doll.

      I hear the bus coming from around the corner.

      “We can talk about this some more after school,” my Forever Dad says. “Would that be good?”

      I see the bus so I start counting.