by Jeff Moberg
***
Things were different now with dad. He called or texted me at least once a week, and we met for dinner at least once a month. I decided that if Andrea made dad happy, then that made me happy. After all, he did fix my nose. On my birthday, Dad and Andrea said they would take Luke and I to dinner anywhere we wanted to go.
“Anywhere?” We asked together.
“Anywhere you want, Punkin. You’re the birthday girl!”
Luke and I didn’t even have to think about it. We both said, “Starlight!” at the same time.
And after dinner, we even got to go swimming in the rooftop pool at Dad’s house. “Jeez,” said Luke as we swam with the retractable roof open. “Are you sure you wouldn’t rather live with your dad?” I smacked him hard on the arm.
“You know that I could never leave my mom. She’s always been there for me.”
56
Who’s Norma L?
The Saturday after school got out, Mom and I drove to the tree farm to help Luke and his mom finish moving and settling in to their new house. On the way, we stopped and had breakfast at Dan and Dot’s Diner. I had my favorite strawberry pancakes, and Mom had coffee with toast and grape jelly. And as usual, Dot wouldn’t let us pay for breakfast.
“Your money’s no good here.” Dot said to my mom.
“Well,” responded my crafty mom. “Maybe our money’s no good—but the service here is the best—so we have to leave a good tip don’t we?”
Dot, who had been a waitress for about a half-century, could hardly argue with that logic. I saw my mom leave a twenty-dollar bill on the table, and I knew that she had found a way around Dan and Dot’s generosity. Dot gave us both great big, grandma hugs, and we said goodbye and waved to Dan behind the counter. On the way to the tree farm, Mom and I decided that we would all go visit Dan and Dot at least once a month to check up on them and help them keep things clean and tidy.
After we drove through Mosely and turned off onto the familiar one-lane, dirt road, we saw a new sign that said:
Krattenmucker Tree, Plant and Sod Farm
If You Need It -- We Grow It!
Come see the Bobs and the moms for all your landscaping needs!
Only 3 More Miles!
Five minutes later, we pulled into the parking lot and Mom and I got out of the car. As she headed up the walkway to the house, I called after her. “Hey Mom, could you tell Luke to come down when you see him. I want to go out back and see the new trees he planted.”
She smiled back at me. “OK honey. I’ll tell him.”
While I waited, I looked over at the black mark on at the edge of the parking lot, where the tiny, red, white, and blue trailer used to be. And then I looked up at the very nice, blue and white, two-story farmhouse. I remembered my Christmas wish for Luke and his mom. I had hoped more than anything, that they could have a nice, cozy place to live in, like Mom and I had. And now they did. And finally, I thought about how Luke and I could have died the day that the trailer blew up. The Fire Marshall had said that it was a faulty Propane line that had ignited when a spark touched it. I decided then and there, that we were all very lucky.
Or maybe, just maybe, someone really was looking out for us.
Just then, Luke came running down from the house. “Hey you.”
“Hey yourself,” I said back as I gave him a hug.
“Your mom said that you wanted to go see the trees I planted out back.”
“Yep. I sure do. Where did you get them?” But before he could answer, I said it for him, “Who else? Bob and Bob Jr.”
Luke nodded and grabbed my hand. The promise ring was still there—and so was the promise. As we walked, I thought of our first day of 7th grade in Mr. Spinoza’s class. It was the first time that I had met Luke, AKA The Lukester. I remembered how everyone had stared at us and all I wanted was to be was normal.
Was I normal then?
No, not really.
Was I Normal now?
Hmm… good question.
I had certainly changed a lot during the year. Inside and out.
Was I beautiful?
Well, maybe a little on the inside. But what about the outside? At least my nose was better. But I was still sort of goofy-looking with my short, choppy hair. And I still had lots of freckles. Good or bad, for some reason, I was always beautiful to Luke. And that made me feel beautiful.
Was I happy?
Yes. Extraordinarily happy.
Was I lucky?
Yes. I was very lucky. The fact that Luke was walking next to me proved that.
So back to my original question. Was I normal?
The truthful answer was no.
I was not normal.
But I was Norma L.
And I was definitely happy being Norma L.
Copyright © 2012 Jeff Moberg
