Read Spin the Sky for Free Online Page B

she says, “It’s wasteful.”
    Cesar must have made a sound because Penelope looks up at him, shading her eyes. The orbital’s mile-high ceilings are covered with shiny reflective paint to capture as much sunlight as possible. At high noon, it is every bit as bright as the hot Texas sun Trevor has never seen.
    “Well, old man, not planning to die on us after all?” she calls to Cesar.
    “Not today, ma’am.” Cesar ducks his head self-consciously. He almost wants to hide. He is sure his face gives him away.
    How do I tell them?
    Trevor abandons his project to stare at the man, fascinated by his scars and clothes.
    “Who are you, anyway?” Penelope asks as she bends down to stack some bowls.
    Cesar bows his head and watches her through his long, bedraggled hair.
    She doesn’t recognize me.
    “I guess I don’t look familiar,” he mumbles, overwhelmed.
    I can’t do this.
    Cesar has no plan for this. His original plan involved showing up and dying in his wife’s arms right after he told his son that he loved him. It was a good plan except he continued to live. This significantly alters the original plan into what can only be described now as a bad plan. Cesar would smack himself in the head but that would only make him look even dumber than he already feels.
    Penelope sighs, giving him a hard look. “No, you don’t look familiar. I’ve never seen you before in my life. So if you are trying to play like an old friend of the family, forget it.”
    She really doesn’t remember me, Cesar thinks with a sinking feeling.
    As he looks into Trevor’s eager gaze, he knows he just can’t tell them today. Not like this. Not a beaten old wreck standing in their yard like a beggar.
    “I’m a friend of Cesar’s,” he stammers. “We were close during the War. And after. I’d heard… I’d heard he was coming home.”
    He can’t bring himself to look at them after this lie.
    Trevor eyes get round as the Moon when he hears the name of his famous father. “You knew my dad? Wow! Where have you been? When did you see him last? What happened to him?”
    Penelope scowls and looks away.
    Cesar gives his son a long steady look. “I knew your father very well. Nothing happened to him. Everything happened to him. You look just like him.” Cesar reaches out and claps the boy on the shoulder. He tries smiling at the boy, but fails halfway through.
    Trevor’s face takes on that aloof, cool expression that teen boys get in front of strangers. “People tell me that,” he replies, stiffening under Cesar’s hand. “I guess it’s the hair.”
    Penelope hustles out to stand next to her child, as though to reclaim her son from stories of his father.
    “Well, Cesar’s not home. He hasn’t been home since before the War. So whatever promises he made you are gone,” she says flatly, with a slight hint of bitterness.
    Cesar sits down on the porch and looks at his hands. He says, “Ma’am, I know that. But I also know how much he wanted to come home. How much he loved this place and how he missed his family. I just wanted to see it. I’m a traveler myself with nothing to call home and nothing of mine but what’s in that bag I brought. I just wanted to see it. I’m sorry for bringing sickness with me and for being a broken old man.”
    He blinks back his sorrow. He has failed them. He has failed her. He isn’t fit to sit on this porch with them.
    Small cool hands on his shoulder bring him out of his despair. Penelope helps him up and guides him back to the little room in the bunkhouse.
    She speaks low and soothing, as though calming a horse. “It’s alright, mister. It’s going to be fine. You are a friend of Cesar’s and a guest in our home. You get better now and we’ll talk about the rest later.”
    “And tell me about my dad!” Trevor calls after them, turning back to the mule .
    Oh son, my son, your dad was a coward, Cesar almost cries.
    His strength drains away and he collapses into the bed to obediently drink