The Thing About Luck

rest.” He counted out a hundred dollars and handed the rest to me. “If it happens again, I’ll have to ask the Parkers to get rid of the dog.”

“Yes, sir. I swear it won’t happen again.”

But his mind had already moved on. “We tried to get the horse into the record books, but he didn’t even make it into the top ten.” He flipped out his palms, like, What are you gonna do?

“There must be some big horses out there. Anyway, thank you for, uh ... ”

“I appreciate your honesty. Now, run along, young lady.”

He was already closing the door as I said, “Good night.”

I ran all the way back to our camper. The combines were still churning away, the sound growing louder as they moved nearer, their lights shifting in tandem. I watched for a minute, just kind of smiling to myself. Then I burst into the camper and skipped to our end. Obaachan was lying on her mattress, but the light was on. She was admiring her hands again. I said, “I confessed to Mr. Laskey. I told him Thunder killed his chickens.”

“What he say?” Obaachan asked. She lifted herself with a grunt. She looked worried.

“I offered him three hundred dollars, and he was so nice, he only took a hundred!”

“Not nice. He lie. Nobody pay him that much for chicken. But that stupid thing you did.”

What? “I thought you wanted me to confess!”

“I did. But sometimes you have to do something stupid to do right thing. But right thing more important than stupid.” She lay back down.

“Are you proud of me?”

Obaachan thought about that. “You did many stupid thing in a row, but I not ashamed anymore. Oyasumi.”

“Oyasuminasai.” I got in bed feeling ridiculously lighthearted. I felt like I had saved the world or something. On a whim I untucked my sheet and put my pillow on the south end of the bed. Maybe I’d have even better luck tomorrow.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Obaachan let me sleep in the next morning. It turned out that Jaz had the flu, and Obaachan was worried I might get sick as well, so she didn’t wake me up. It was weird—one day she would scold me constantly, and the next day she’d worry I might be sick. But I was fine. It was your basic harvest day—long and quiet, with the whole crew out in the fields. I didn’t see Robbie all day, so I just wandered around alone, did some homework, and helped out in the kitchen.

That night after dinner Mr. Parker said he wanted to talk about some things. Dozens and dozens of moths flitted around us. Mr. Parker offered everyone a Coke from the cooler, but Jaz and I couldn’t drink any because Obaachan said bubbly things make little explosions inside of children, which can kill you eventually. If that was true, wouldn’t there be a lot fewer kids around? Robbie, who’d ridden out on a dirt bike, was on his second Coke and nothing seemed to be exploding in him. Jaz was sitting with a goofy half smile. He was still sick, but he’d felt like getting out of the camper.

I scooted next to Jiichan. “How is work going?” I asked him.

“Take longer than expected. Land look flat, but bumpy underneath. My combine no have autocontour.”

“Do you get tired working so late?”

“Not so bad, kind of addictive. Like in arcade when you and Jaz play game and not want to stop,” Jiichan said. His eyes went glassy for a moment, then came to life again. “Big farm. Many work still to do.”

Mr. Parker gave me a sharp look, so I stopped asking Jiichan questions. Mr. Parker rubbed at his scalp with the tips of his fingers. “So here’s the scoop,” he said, staring at the ground a moment, then glancing at his wife. He finished rubbing his scalp before continuing. “We’re definitely going to have to split up. Rain’s expected here, but some of us need to head to Oklahoma because rain’s expected even sooner there.” He sighed. “Yesterday the weather report said the rain was due early next week. Now they’re saying the weekend.” He looked around at everyone. “So here’s what we’ll do. We’ll all work late tonight and tomorrow, but then Wednesday at first light, Mick, Toshiro, and Toshiro’s family will head out for the Franklins’ farm in Oklahoma. Larry and Rory will go along with some of the equipment, then return here. Sean and Bill will stay here in Texas.”

Crud. The way we were splitting up, I probably wouldn’t see Robbie for days. Seeing him was the highlight of my harvesting existence. Right then he was sitting and looking toward the fields, one of his legs impatiently shaking up and down.

Mick stood up, placing his hands on his waist, and leaned backward. Then everyone else stood up and stretched, like they were getting ready for a yoga class or something. The workers headed back out without a word. Robbie whispered to me, “Meet me at my place.” He rode off. Jaz studied me, and I realized my mouth was a big O.

Jaz’s head was lolling toward his shoulder, but he wasn’t too sick to say, “I think a mosquito flew into your mouth.”

But I just laughed. “You okay?” I asked.

“I wish I didn’t have to move ever again.” I’d noticed that he’d eaten a bit. He heaved a couple of times as if he might throw up. I placed my arms under his and helped him stand. We drove to the camper with him leaning heavily against me.

Once inside our bedroom, Jaz said, “I can’t climb up there,” and collapsed onto Jiichan’s lower bunk.

I hurried into the kitchen to clean up dinner dishes. I wanted to get to Robbie’s place. Someone kicked the door, and when I opened it, Obaachan was standing there with a handful of dishes. I held the door for her, and then went out and picked up pots and pans. The combines were already back at work. Close up, the sound was always thunderous—each of the machines we were using weighed more than thirty thousand pounds, and that was bound to make some noise. But actually, inside the cab of a combine was not as noisy as you’d expect. I watched as the machines moved side by side across the field. I heard the door open behind me, and Obaachan stepped down from the camper.

She looked off at the horizon and muttered, “Too much work for old man,” and I knew she was worried about Jiichan.

“He said it’s addictive,” I said.

“What that?”

“It’s like when you take a drug and can’t stop.”

“Fields are drugs?”

“I guess.”

She nodded sagely. “He like working.”

I was wired from thinking about going to see Robbie. Obaachan got on her hands and knees. “Do you want some aspirin?” I asked.

“Errrr,” Obaachan said, her head upside down. “I way beyond aspirin. Need something from doctor.”

“Do you want me to help you to bed?”

“No, this best for now.”

I went back into the kitchen, thinking how even though that conversation had been short, it was about the most civil one I remembered having with my grandmother. I worked as quickly as I could to get the dishes washed and the kitchen cleaned up. But I had to wipe the counters really carefully because if even the slightest spot was left, I would get a lecture from Obaachan.

“Who touched my LEGO creation?!”

I whipped around, and Jaz, looking sick, was holding up his LEGO building and staring at me.

“I accidentally bumped it, but I didn’t see anything break,” I said.

“I knew it! You made the cat fall off the tree! You could have just told me!”

He held out the building as if he were thinking about dropping it to the ground. He’d dropped a plate of spaghetti to the ground twice in the last year when he was mad at me. Now he stood there with his arms out for a full minute. Then he pressed his lips together and walked away instead.

By the time I finished all my chores, Obaachan had moved to her bed. She and Jaz seemed to be fast