Chapter 5

     When the bus stopped in front in front of the daycare, Josh saw Mary waiting patiently at the bus stop. She boarded the bus with a couple of other little daycare kids, she sat down next to Josh and looked up at him sweetly.

     “Do you want to see what I drew today?”

     Josh smiled. “What did you draw?”

     Mary opened her little pink backpack and pulled out a piece of paper. She handed it to Josh and looked at him expectantly. Josh stared at the colorful paper; he could make out 2 stick people. One was a tall boy; the other was a little girl. They were walking beneath a rainbow in a field of flowers. In the corner of the picture, the sun was watching them with a big grin on its face.

     “Is this supposed to represent us?” Josh asked.

     Mary nodded. “What do you think?”

     “Well…. I think it’s beautiful,” he said and gave the picture back to Mary.

     Mary put the picture back in her backpack and laid her head down on his lap. “I love you big brother,” she said.

     Josh placed his hand on her. “I love you too, Mary.”

     “You two are so cute,” Jenny voiced from across the aisle. She had been busy reading more of Josh’s poems.

     Josh felt his face grow hot ‘how long has she been watching us?’ “How much more poems do you have to read?” he asked trying to change the topic.

     “I have to read a little over half of the book. I’ll try to finish it tonight and give it back to you tomorrow,” Jenny explained.

     “Okay,” Josh said.

     Josh was quiet for the rest of the ride home. When Josh and Mary got off the house and headed into the house, they found Vincent waiting for them.

     “You took long enough to get home,” Vincent said rudely.

     “Why does that matter?” Josh asked defensively.

     “Don’t you get snotty with me,” Vincent growled.

     ‘Good thing I don’t have to work tonight,’ Josh thought as Vincent started hammering off what he needed Josh to do. Josh went through the list over and over again in his mind as he set to work with the yard chores.