She turned and faced me and said, "Iris. Iris Walker."
There was another pause, and then I began wondering how come I'd never seen her before.
"So where'd you go to elementary school?"
"Valley Christian."
"No wonder," I said. "So how come you don't go there anymore?"
"My dad pulled me out. My mom wanted me to go there, but
now that she's no longer around ..." Iris said, and then her voice just trailed off.
Without giving it any thought, I asked, "Why, what happened to your mom?"
"She passed away last yer," she said.
"Oh," I said and felt horrible.
As if reading my mind, Iris said, "It's okay. You don't have to feel bad. I'm okay now."
We kept walking, but slowly. Neither of us were in any hurry to get home.
For half a block we were quiet again until Iris suddenly said, "Didn't anyone tell you about
the ninth grade lawn?"
I turned and looked at Iris and she was smiling. Then she started to laugh, but in a way that took all the embarrassment out of it, and I couldn't help but laugh
right along with her.
"You saw?" I asked, and she nodded.
After that both of us seemed to relax. We started talking like normal kids.
I was excited. I'd never talked to a girl one on one before.
I remembered how nervous I'd been in the morning. I remembered the two of us on the corner, and then on the bus, and that's
Hey Cain :) how connected. I was just thinking about this book yesterday!
when I remembered the book she'd pulled out of her backpack and asked her what it was.
"It's called The Inverted Forest," she said. "I've already read it, so you can borrow it if you
want."
Before I could answer she reached into her backpack and handed it to me. The first thing I noticed was how small and thin it was, like something handmade. The cover had nothing
on it but the words, "The Inverted Forest by J.D. Sainger". I thanked her and put it in my own backpack and promptly forgot about it.
Soon after that Iris stopped in front of a small
blue house and said, "This is where I live. I guess I'll see you tomorrow, Simon."
We waved goodbye and then I watched her go inside before continuing along on my own with a big smile
on my face. I was happy for the first time in what felt like forever.
When I got home mom was just waking up. She was a nurse. She worked the night shift at the hospital, which always
ended around the time I started my first class.
“Sangmin, are you home?” she called out from her room.
“Yeah, it's me.” I said.
"Want me to make you a sandwich?"
she asked as she came out and met me in the living room.
"Grilled cheese?" she asked, and I smiled and nodded.
As she went into the kitchen I put my backpack down and took off my shoes
and went to use the restroom. As I washed my hands I looked up and stared at my reflection in the mirror. On a whim I put some water in my hair and combed it to the side.
It did make me look different, I thought. Maybe that kid had been right.
When I came a grilled cheese sandwich was waiting for me on the coffee table. My mom stared at my new look and
smiled. I could tell by her expression she was going to get all sappy, but she controlled herself, knowing how I didn't like being smothered like I did when I was a kid.
