Sixteen

                                    

                                          
The week passes by quickly in preparations for the Fourth of July party. We all wake up early on the morning of Fourth, to add finishing touches to the decorations and to help Mom bake her annual fruit cake. Today is the day that Mr. Conklin is coming to visit, the day that Dad should be here too. I tell myself it's better this way, but I struggle to believe it.
	Conrad's in an extra crabby mood and volunteers to do most of the outdoor work, away from everyone. Through the window in the kitchen, I watch him sit by the pool and husk corn with earbuds in. I feel a gentle hand on my shoulder.
	"Did you finish making the batter?" Mom asks me. Her face is done up in makeup and her hair is styled in a braid. The same smile she wears every year is plastered on her face. If she looks happy, then so will I. 
	I tip the mixing bowl into a sprayed cake pan. "Yup, I'm about to pop it in the oven."
	"Great," Mom sighs, and I assume that it's out of relief. "Then it'll have plenty of time to cool before we frost it. Thank you, sweet heart."
	She wraps me in a hug and I rest my chin on her shoulder. I can feel her collarbone through her red, white, and blue summer dress, and pull away nervously. Maybe it had just been a while since I hugged Mom like that, but I remember feeling her bones when she had cancer. It brought back the same fear I felt a couple summers ago, wondering what it would be like the next summer. There's no reason she should feel like that now, though.
	"Beck," Laurel says entering the kitchen and setting an armful of frozen brat and hotdog packages on the counter. 
	"Hm?"
	Laurel sighs and positions herself against the counter, bracing herself with her arms. "I'm gonna send Steven or Belly out to talk with Connie. I hate seeing him be alone all summer,"
	"It's a hard day for him, Laur. Adam isn't coming."
	"I tried talking to him myself, but he barely paid me any attention. Maybe one of the kids can get him more lively again. And it's going to be Steven's last full day here for a few weeks,"
	Mom shook her head and I saw her smile slip away. "I really don't understand what's the matter with him. He and Adam haven't even been getting along lately, he should be glad he isn't coming." She takes an exhausted breath and her eyes trail towards me. "Kris, go find Jeremiah and ask if he needs help blowing up the balloons."
	"Okay Mom." I slide the cake in the oven,set the timer, and slowly leave the room. I know that Jeremiah is in the garage with Steven and I know they don't need any help. I'm not sure where Belly is, though. 
I consider trying to find her instead of the boys, but I stop in the next room when I hear my mom speak again. "Send Belly out to talk with him. He's always better around her. She's...different to him."
I hear shuffling from the kitchen and assume that the two mothers are hugging. Then Laurel softly says okay.
I head towards the garage by the boys.
I'm right that they don't need any help. All the balloons we need are already blown up and now they're burning time blowing up the extras, releasing them to see if they can hit each other. 
"That totally hit you, dude!" Steven shouted when Jeremiah didn't surrender.
I close the door behind me. "Jeez, you guys are so loud," I say and sit down on a storage bin. "Where's the arch?" I ask, knowing that was their next task. 
"We couldn't figure it out," Steven says.
Jeremiah shakes his head. "No, I know how it works. I'm not that stupid." He releases the balloon in his hand. It misses Steven and lands by my feet. "We could use an extra set of hands though."