Sharon Creech - Absolutely Normal Chaos

“ Relieved ?”

“She said odd things had been happening. First, right after Mr. Furtz died, a letter arrived for him that said, ‘Dear Charlie, You don’t have to. Sincerely, Radene.’ Mrs. Furtz thought he had been seeing some other woman. Then I gave her the ring, and she knew it was Mr. Furtz’s. He had always kept it in this little box on his dresser, and he told her it was from an old girlfriend. He never wore it. She couldn’t figure out how I got it. She thought I stole it. Can you imagine that?”

“Didn’t she want to know why Mr. Furtz never told her about you?”

“When I told her that Mr. Furtz only just found out himself—that I was his son—right before he went in the hospital, she said that she knew he would have told her soon enough. And when I got ready to leave, she said, ‘I’m just glad to know that there’s a little more of Charlie left in the world now that he’s gone.’”

Can you imagine that? It made me cry.

So. We sat there a long time. I felt real bad for Carl Ray. Why did Mr. Furtz have to die right after Carl Ray found him? Finally, Carl Ray started the car again, and when we pulled into Alex’s driveway, I asked him where he was going, all dressed up. Carl Ray said, “To the cemetery. I want to talk to my—uh, my father.”

Well, I started bawling like mad, and Carl Ray had to pat me on the shoulder. Then I asked him if he wanted me to come with him, but he said, “Nope.”

When Alex answered the door, he just stood there. He looked at me as if he’d never seen me before.

I thought I was going to die. Oh boy, I thought. He doesn’t like me anymore. Then I thought, I look terrible from all this crying and he’s thinking I’m uglier than he remembered. Then I thought, He’s going to tell me it’s all over. We’re finished.

He seemed so nervous . I thought, Sure, he ought to be nervous. He’s going to tell me it’s all over and maybe he thinks I’ll punch him or something.

“Come on in,” he said.

On the antique side of the room was Mrs. Cheevey, and on the modern side was Mr. Cheevey. When they saw us, they jumped up.

“So who’s going to start?” Mrs. Cheevey said.

We looked at her. Start what?

Then Mrs. Cheevey said, “Okay, okay, okay. Let’s start with Mary Kay. Oooh! A rhyme: Okay , Mary Kay . Ha, ha, ha.”

“It’s Mary Lou ,” Alex said.

Then, all of a sudden, I started talking. I was so upset about Carl Ray, I had to tell someone. So I told them all about Carl Ray and Mr. Furtz. I went on and on and on. I told them everything. They kept saying, “Poor Carl Ray,” and “How astonishing,” and “Poor Mr. Furtz,” and on and on.

And after I finished babbling away like an idiot, I felt better.

Then Alex said, “Want to go see my fishing lures?”

The funny thing is Alex really does have a collection of fishing lures. We went out into the garage to look at them, and then it happened. The Big Event.

He KISSED me!!!!

Sighhhhhhhh.

Right there, in the garage, beside the fishing lures. He just leaned over and kissed me. It was simple as anything. Still, I was glad I had practiced. And you know what? It didn’t taste a bit like chicken.

Sighhhh.

After the kiss, we looked at some more fishing lures. It was a little embarrassing, if you want to know the truth. I am sure we were both thinking, Wow! We did it! We kissed. Wow! And there we were saying things like, “Oh that’s a nice lure,” and “Here’s my favorite,” and all that sum and substance. Then, right before we went back into the house, we kissed one more time. I started that one. I figured maybe it was my turn. Is that how it goes?

Sighhhhhh.

Finally Mr. Cheevey took me home, and right after I got home, Carl Ray returned and told everybody at my house his whole, long, sad, complicated story.

I thought they were going to keel over at least a dozen times. Carl Ray didn’t cry again, but everybody kept telling him how sorry they were about Mr. Furtz. It was as if Mr. Furtz had just that very day died all over again. While I was sitting there listening to Carl Ray, I kept looking at my parents and I decided I was going to pay more attention to them from now on. I really am. You know what Carl Ray said? He said, “I’m lucky, actually. I still have a real father.” And we all knew exactly what he meant. Uncle Carl Joe is his real father because, as he says, a father is someone who raises you and takes care of you.

I kept thinking about this time when I was much younger. I was lying in bed one night, feeling really sick. I must have been moaning or something, because my dad came in the room. I told him my stomach was going crazy. He asked me if I was going to throw up, and when I said, “Maybe,” he said I should sit up. And then, before I could even get to the bathroom, I started throwing up, and do you know what he did? He put his hands out to catch it. I threw up right into his hands. And I remember thinking, even though I was only about seven years old at the time, Wow, only a mother or father would do that .

And I’m sure Uncle Carl Joe has done lots of things like that for Carl Ray.

I still can hardly believe yesterday. When I woke up this morning, I had to go back and read last night’s journal entry to be sure I hadn’t imagined all of it.

King of Kings!

I sure had weird dreams last night. In my dreams, everybody kept getting all mixed up and running together. My father turned into Uncle Carl Joe who turned into Mr. Furtz who turned into Mr. Cheevey. Mrs. Cheevey turned into Mrs. Furtz who turned into Aunt Radene.

Beth Ann called here a million times today while Carl Ray was at work. She wanted to know where in the world Carl Ray was last night, and she wanted to know how long he was gone and why he didn’t come over to her house and on and on and on. I didn’t tell her any of the news ; I figure Carl Ray will do that soon enough. I just said I wasn’t my cousin’s keeper. That made her mad.

I couldn’t see Alex today (groannnn), but I’ll see him tomorrow.

Sighhhh.

Saw Alex tonight!!! Brain is complete mush as a result!!!

Two more kisses.

I LOVE ALEX CHEEVEY!!!

Alpha and Omega, school starts again in three weeks! How did that happen??? Where has summer gone???

Saw Alex again tonight. Two kisses. Sighhhhhh.

Couldn’t see Alex today, but he invited me to a picnic with his parents on Sunday. He invited Carl Ray too, but Carl Ray got a letter from his other father, Uncle Carl Joe, and Uncle Carl Joe wants him to go home this weekend. He wants to talk to him.

I refused one hundred percent to go along with Carl Ray this time. Dennis is going to go. Poor thing. And I am not going to warn him about snappers or Booger Hill or the outhouse. He wouldn’t believe me anyway, and he might as well find out the hard way.

Beth Ann is a basket case. Carl Ray told her on Tuesday night about Mr. Furtz being his father and all, and Beth Ann called me on Wednesday to ask if it was true. She doesn’t think it’s neat at all . She thinks it’s sort of disgusting, and she told Carl Ray that. So Carl Ray didn’t see her on Wednesday or Thursday.

So then Beth Ann called me about a million times on Wednesday and Thursday to ask why Carl Ray hadn’t called her. Honestly. When I told her that Carl Ray was going to West Virginia this weekend, she started sniffling. How could he do that? How could he? And on and on.