Page 63 of Free Heart
In the car, driving back to Peggy Jo’s, I put on a KPop playlist and sing along as Dan makes some notes in his phone for another idea he has for building his TikTok audience.
“When are you going to take Korean lessons?” Dan asks without segue, not looking up from where his thumbs are typing madly to get down whatever new idea he’s had.
“When everything settles down,” I say.
“Mm.” Dan pockets his phone, adjusts his seatbelt, and then stares down at his foot in the moonboot for a long time.
He’d practiced using his crutches and doing some minimal weight-bearing in Dr. Hennessey’s office before we’d left, and he’d clearly found it more taxing than he’d expected. “I think you shouldn’t put it off. It’s something you’ve wanted to learn for a long time. It’s your biological heritage. It’s important to you.”
“Danny, we have no money. I can’t justify paying a private teacher for something like that when we have bills coming in. Even if we had extra somehow, it’d need to go toward saving for a security deposit on a rental for when Peggy Jo returns. At the very least, we need to save for gas and a camping slot if we decide to live in the van.”
Dan frowns and sits back, crossing his arms over his chest. I glance over at him and then back to the road. He’s not satisfied with that answer, but he knows I’m right.
“Don’t worry about it,” I say. “I’m so tired right now. The thought of having an extra obligation like that is too much. I’ll do it one day. When the time’s right. In the meantime, there’s always Duolingo. I saw they’re updating their Korean language lessons soon.”
Dan nods, but I see his mind is still working, and I know he’s trying to solve this, just like he’s trying to solve our larger money problems.
“The bigger question is what are we going to do about Thanksgiving?” I say, changing the topic. “Martin, Leenie, and the kids are going to West Virginia to see the family there. Peggy Jo’s staying with Bella. It’ll be just you and me unless we plan something. Want to invite Lowell and Rye? I know Rye’ll be sad Jeanie’s going to be with her dad, and it could be a nice distraction for him.”
“Sure.”
“We can have all the traditional stuff: turkey, stuffing, baked beans—”
“Baked beans?”
“Yeah? Didn’t any of your foster families have baked beans with Thanksgiving dinner?”
“No.”
“Huh. Well, they did it wrong then,” I say, teasing.
“Unsurprising.”
“So, back to the list. Put this in your phone notes,” I order, tapping at the steering wheel with my thumbs. “Turkey, stuffing, baked beans, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, sweet potatoes, and what am I forgetting?”
“Cranberry sauce.”
“Right! Cranberry sauce. Now the next question is how can we afford it?” I peer out at the winding road and the evergreens growing on the gray and white mountainside. “I can try to get more plumbing work. With Martin going to West Virginia, his boss is probably short-staffed. I can help out…” I trail off, thinking about my schedule. “Somehow.”
“I’m sure my YouTube channel will start making money soon.”
I nod, though I’m not as sure of that myself. I can’t in good conscience suggest he make another video about his sad foster care history, even though the last time he did, he brought in almost five hundred dollars on the GoFundMe. He also got a lot of men and women offering to be his mommy or daddy in the bedroom. That had been out of bounds, in my opinion, but Dan had laughed.
“I’m sure Lowell and Rye will bring some of the dishes,” I say. “They’ll probably have their own traditional foods too. Go on and text them to see if they want to come. Before they make other plans.”
“Okay.”
I glance over when I hear the swooshing sound of a text sent. “So fast? What’d you say?”
“‘Wanna do Thanksgiving?’”
“That’s it? No explanation or anything?”
“What’s to explain?” His phone dinged. “Lowell says sure.” His phone dinged again. “Rye says okay.”
“So that’s settled.”
We drive in silence for a little while, until a question comes to mind. Just thinking about Thanksgiving has put me in a better mood. Despite my fears that he’ll rush his recovery and hurt himself again, it really is good that Dan can move around more easily now. If he can bear a little weight… “Do you want to have sex when we get home?”
