All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

“Who is he?” Mom whispered to me.

“He said his name was Kellen.”

“Is he Jesse Joe’s father?”

Mom opened her purse, rattling her keys to be sure her can of mace was there.

“Excuse me,” she said. “I’m Brenda Newling.”

Kellen set Donal down and came toward my mother with his hand out.

“Good to meet you. I’m Jesse Joe Kellen.”

I watched my mother’s face as reality crowded out the story she’d invented. She had imagined little Jesse Joe as the sort of shy young man a quiet, wounded girl like Wavy could befriend. In Mom’s fairy tale, they held hands and shared secrets, and would someday go away to college and have good lives, if properly encouraged by a supportive aunt.

Soft brown eyes and a shy smile, Wavy had said. His eyes were almost sleepy as he offered his hand to my mother, and a big gold cap studded the middle of his shy smile.

Behemoth was the word my mother used to describe him to her book club friends, and he was enormous. Bigger than the Incredible Hulk on TV. Even though he wasn’t green, Mom recoiled from the hand he offered. His shirtsleeves were cuffed back, revealing several tattoos, including one in a horseshoe shape. In the center of it was a four-leaf clover and the words Lucky Motherfucker. This was Wavy’s “little boyfriend.”

My mother stepped back and bumped into Leslie. Kellen still had his hand out, offering to shake, but he withdrew it and rested it on Wavy’s shoulder. She didn’t shake him off, like she would have with anyone else.

“Well, this is really inconvenient,” Mom blurted. “No one called to say that they were leaving today. It’s unreasonable for Val to expect…”

Kellen wasn’t listening. He’d gone down on one knee so that he was eye-to-eye with Wavy. While he looked at her, the rest of us didn’t exist.

Wavy whispered something into his ear and he answered: “I got your letter. I missed you, too.” All of that was shocking enough, but then she kissed him on the cheek. Unheard of.

“Mom, I’m going to be late to my lesson,” Leslie said. Only she would be upset about that. I dreamed of reasons to keep me from my violin lessons.

My mother cleared her throat and said, “Mr. Kellen, we have an appointment to go to. Perhaps you could come back this evening to discuss this.”

“I guess Val forgot to call.” Kellen finally took his eyes off Wavy and got to his feet.

“I guess so. If you’ll excuse us, we need to leave. Come on, kids.”

“Why can’t I go with Kellen?” Donal said.

“Because I haven’t spoken to your mother yet.” My mother rattled her car keys. “Now, come on. Why don’t you girls walk Mr. Kellen out, while I get the car? Don’t forget to lock the front door.”

I was thrilled to stand in the entryway with Kellen. He had alarmed my mother and received a kiss from Wavy. As they parted on the front porch, Kellen reached out and ran his hand over Wavy’s hair, all down her back. She turned and smiled at him.

At the music school, while Leslie was having her lesson, Mom scooted her chair next to Wavy’s and whispered, “Who is that man?”

“Kellen.”

“Jesse Joe Kellen? The person you sent the Christmas card to?”

Wavy nodded.

“How old is he?”

Wavy shrugged.

When Dad came home from work, he and Mom went into the den and argued for half an hour. Then Mom came out and called Aunt Val. The phone rang for ages, before Aunt Val answered. Mom’s whole face clenched up and she said, “Some man came here today to pick up your children. He said his name was Kellen. I was under the impression that Jesse Joe Kellen was a very young man, since Wavy told us he was her boyfriend.”

There was a long pause, as my mother wound the phone cord around her finger and then released it. Her face relaxed a little and she laughed.

“Of course, I know girls get crushes, but I am not about to hand your children over to some stranger who claims you sent him.

“Yes, not a stranger to her, but she’s only ten. She can’t be expected to look out for herself. It is not—”

My mother was going to have the last word until the doorbell rang. Dad answered it and the sound of Kellen introducing himself ended Mom’s conversation with Aunt Val.

Donal had been playing with his cars on the floor, but he was up in an instant, running into the front hall. When Kellen stepped into the room, he had a giggling Donal slung over his shoulder. Dad shrugged at Mom and said, “Are you kids ready to go?”

For once, Wavy led the packing. As Mom watched from the doorway, Kellen held the bag for Wavy to put Donal’s things in.

Next to my bed was a pile of Christmas presents that technically belonged to Wavy, including a blond Darci Cover Girl Model doll, two stuffed Smurfs, and a Mork and Mindy lunchbox. Ignoring all of that, Wavy pulled a book on constellations out of the pile. She handed it to Kellen with a smile and said, “For you.”

Mom had been particularly proud of that book. Something Wavy would like. Obviously she did like it, if she was giving it to Kellen, but my mother acted like Wavy had spit in her face.

After they were gone, Mom called her friend Sheila and said, “I just don’t know what to do about my niece.” I think she only said it to be saying it, because I’d heard enough of her fights with Dad to know there were only three things we could do about Wavy. We could let her and Donal come live with us, we could call Child Protective Services, or we could “leave well enough alone.” I didn’t know exactly what that meant, but it was always the decision Mom and Dad came to.