After almost every sentence, I thought Kellen would cry, but he made it to the end of the letter.
“Donal says, ‘I went to the garage and I saw you and Kellen together. I’m sorry about spying on you, but I was so scared. I needed to know you were okay. If you were with Kellen, I knew you were safe. Except the cops said … he—he raped you. Maybe that was my fault, because I told the cops that I saw you on the desk in the office with him. And then after Kellen got arrested, it wasn’t safe to tell anybody. Sean always said something bad could happen to you. I didn’t know what he might do, if Kellen wasn’t there to protect you. Now that Sean’s dead, I guess I can tell you. I hope you’re really coming to visit me like your letter says. Since you’re my sister, they say I can have a contact visit with you. See you soon. Love, Donal.’”
Kellen picked up his napkin and blew his nose. He sat with his head down, until Wavy stood up and leaned over him. When he raised his head, she held his face in her hands and kissed him.
She glanced at Mom and, for a good minute, all they did was look at each other. Mom had tears running down her face, but Wavy was smiling.
“You wanted to protect me. I know. We’re going to be okay.”
“I’m glad,” Mom whispered. She actually sounded it.
The front door snapped open and Donal skulked into the dining room holding a Styrofoam cup. Fumbling in one of his sweatshirt pockets, he pulled out a handful of crumpled bills and the car keys. When he laid them on the table next to Kellen’s plate, a few coins rolled loose and fell on the floor.
“Oh jeez,” he said, seeing us all looking weepy.
“It’s okay. I think we’re done crying,” I said.
Donal reached out and laid his hand on the back of Wavy’s neck.
“Icy paws,” she said and swatted him away. For a second he cracked a smile.
Then she picked up her plate and carried it out to the kitchen. Kellen followed her with the ham platter, and Donal trailed after them.
When I took what was left of the pie into the kitchen, the three of them were standing at the sink. Donal and Wavy were both eating off her plate and Kellen was washing dishes. Seeing them next to each other, I figured out what was different about Wavy. The top of her head almost reached Kellen’s armpit. She had grown.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Bryn Greenwood is a fourth-generation Kansan and the daughter of a mostly reformed drug dealer. She earned an MA from Kansas State University and continues to work in academia as an administrator. Her essays and short fiction have appeared in The New York Times, Chiron Review, Kansas Quarterly, Karamu, and The Battered Suitcase. She lives in Lawrence, Kansas. You can sign up for email updates here.
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CONTENTS
Title Page
Copyright Notice
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Part One
1. Amy
2. Grandma
3. Wavy
4. Wavy
5. Kellen
6. Miss Degrassi
7. Kellen
8. Wavy
9. Wavy
10. Dee
11. Amy
12. Kellen
Part Two
1. Kellen
2. Amy
3. Kellen
4. Wavy
5. Miss Degrassi
6. Kellen
7. Wavy
8. Butch
9. Wavy
10. Kellen
11. Dee
12. Donal
13. Kellen
Part Three
1. Patty
2. Wavy
3. Miss Humphries
4. Cutcheon
5. Wavy
6. Kellen
7. Wavy
8. Donal
9. Casey
10. Kellen
11. Kellen
12. Wavy
Part Four
1. Amy
2. Butch
3. Amy
4. Wavy
5. Amy
6. Kellen
7. Sheriff Grant
8. Court Reporter
9. Amy
10. Donal
11. Wavy
12. Amy
13. Kellen
Part Five
1. Renee
2. Wavy
3. Renee
4. Kellen
5. Renee
6. Wavy
7. Renee
8. Wavy
9. Kellen
10. Renee
11. Wavy
12. Renee
13. Wavy
14. Kellen
15. Renee
16. Judge C. J. Maber
17. Wavy
18. Kellen
19. Amy
20. Kellen
21. Amy
About the Author
Copyright
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
THOMAS DUNNE BOOKS.
An imprint of St. Martin’s Press.
ALL THE UGLY AND WONDERFUL THINGS. Copyright © 2016 by Bryn Greenwood. All rights reserved. For information, address St. Martin’s Press, 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010.
www.thomasdunnebooks.com
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Cover design by Olga Grlic.
Cover photograph: night sky and stars © Michael Forsberg / Getty Images
The Library of Congress has cataloged the print edition as follows:
Names: Greenwood, Bryn, author.
Title: All the ugly and wonderful things: a novel / Bryn Greenwood.
Description: First edition.|New York: Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martins Press, 2016.
Identifiers: LCCN 2016002476|ISBN 9781250074133 (hardcover)|ISBN 9781466885806 (e-book)
Subjects: LCSH: Children of drug addicts—Fiction.|Domestic fiction.|BISAC: FICTION / Literary.|FICTION / Coming of Age.
Classification: LCC PS3607.R4695 A45 2016|DDC 813/.6—dc23
LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2016002476
e-ISBN 9781466885806
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First Edition: August 2016
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things Page 34
