Chapter 15

She said, "OK" and closed her eyes and mooshed her lips up and leaned close to me.

Dangee! If I didn't kiss her she'd think I was scared of girls, if I did kiss her she might blab or Bugs might see me and tell strangers about what happened. I looked down the crick to where Bugs and the other boy were still splashing in the water. It was dark enough that I didn't think they could see us too good.

I scooched my lips up and mashed my face on Deza Malone's. We stuck like that for a hot second, but it felt like a long time.

When I opened my eyes and pulled back Deza kept hers closed and smiled. She looked down and stuck her hand in mine again and this time I let her keep it there. She looked out at the crick and the woods on the other side and said, "Isn't this romantic?"

I looked out to see what she was talking about. The only thing I could see was the moon like a big egg yolk way up in the sky. You could hear the water and the sound of the mouth organ man playing a sad song back in Hooverville. I sneaked another peek at Deza's dimple.

She said, "You hear that? That's 'Shenandoah' he's playing. Isn't it pretty?" "I guess so."

"Do you know the words?" "Uh-uh."

"Listen.

It's been seven long years

Since last I've seen her,

Way hey, you rolling river,

Been seven long years,

Since last I've seen her;

Way hey, I'm bound away,

"Cross the wide Miss-oo-ray."

I said, "Yup, that's a sad song." I didn't think it was pretty at all.

She squeezed my hand and said, "Isn't it? It's about an Indian man and woman who can't see each other for seven years. But in all that time they still stay in love, no matter what happens. It reminds me of my mother and father."

"Your dad's been gone for seven years before?"

She looked out over the crick like the big eggy moan had her hypnotized. I pulled my hand from hers and said, "Well, that's just about it for the dishes."

She smiled again. "Jojon, I'll never forget this night."

I didn't tell her, but I probably wouldn't forget it either, I'd practiced on the back of my hand before, but this was the first time I'd ever busted slob with a real live girl.

We loaded all the dishes in the box and walked down to Bugs and the other kid. We put their dishes on top of ours and headed back.

Bugs said, "How come you're looking so strange, Jojon? You look like you been chunked in the head with a rock."

Deza Malone laughed, and for a second I thought she was going to rat me out. I said, "I don't know, I guess that song is making me kind of sad."

Bugs said, "Yeah, it is kind of sad."

Right before we got into the cardboard jungle we passed the white people with the coughing baby at their own little fire. I said to Deza, "How come they're off alone, they aren't allowed to sit around the big fire 'cause that baby's making so much noise?"

Deza said, "Uh-uh, they been invited, but my daddy said you got to feel sorry for them. All they're eating is dandelion greens soup, they're broke, their clothes are falling off of them, their baby's sick but when someone took them

some food and blankets, the man said, 'Thank you very much, but we're white people. We ain't in need of a handout.' "

When we got back to the main fire of Hooverville we put the dishes in another box. Deza made us turn them all upside down so's if the rain got into them they wouldn't rust.

I went to the woman with my suitcase. It was in the same spot I'd left it and the knots in the twine were the kind I tie.

I said, "Thank you very much, ma'am." She said, "I told you not to worry." I went back to the big fire to sit with Bugs.

The mouth organ man said, "I suppose you boys are going out on that train tomorrow?"

I said, "The one for Chicago, sir?" He said, "That's the one."

I said, "Yes, we are, sir."

He said, "Well, you'd best get as much sleep as you can. It's supposed to be pulling out at five-fifteen, but you never know with these freights." We got in one of the shacks with some other boys. Bugs was snoring in two seconds, but I couldn't sleep, I opened my jackknife and put it under my blanket.

I was thinking. Deza's momma was right, someone who doesn't know who their family is, is like dust blowing around in a storm, they don't really belong any one place. I started wondering if going to California was the right thing to do. I might not know who my family was, but I knew they were out there somewhere, and it seemed to make a whole lot more sense to think that they were somewhere around Flint instead of out west.

I opened my suitcase to get my blanket. Even though I trusted the woman who'd guarded it for me I checked to make sure everything was OK.

I picked up the tobacco pouch that had my rocks in it and pulled the drawstring open. I shook the five smooth stones out and looked at them. They'd been in the drawer after the ambulance took Momma away and I'd had them ever since.

Someone had took a pen or something and had writ on all five of them, but it was writ in a code so I couldn't understand what they meant. One of them said "kent land in. 5.10.11." Another said "loogootee in. 5.16.11" then there was "sturgis in. 8.30.12" and "gary in. 6.13.12" and the last one said, "flint in. 8.11.11."

I put them back in their pouch and pulled the string tight. Then I pulled out the envelope that had the picture of the saggy pony at the Miss B. Gotten Moon Park. It was fine.