Cover

Title Page

Dedication

For my mother

prologue

1

I AM TEN THE first time we leave. The summer after fifth grade, early June, a month before my eleventh birthday. I walk in the door after the last day of school. My mother is at the dining room table with a duffel bag at her feet. She’s smoking. Her eyes are red and puffy.

“Hi, Bubby,” she says, using the nickname by which she has always called me. “How was your last day?”

“It was good,” I say.

“That’s great. Listen, you need to go pack a bag for at least a week. We’re gonna go camping.”

“Is Dad coming?”

“No. And we need to be outta here ’fore he gets home.”

I look at the clock. It’s three thirty. He’ll be home from work in a half hour.

“You need to hurry.”

I walk into my bedroom and flip the switch but the light doesn’t come on. The electricity has been off for a few days now. I empty my backpack and fill it with clothes and anything else I can think to bring. I’m nervous because my father has been back to work for only two weeks now and he sometimes comes home early. But at a quarter of four we’re out the door unnoticed. We drive for a half hour and enter a town I’ve never been to before.

“Are you leaving Dad?” I ask.

“I don’t know what I’m doin’, Stratton. I just need a break.”

I nod. “It’s okay if you are.”

She looks over and smiles, places her hand on my leg, and squeezes reassuringly. “Thanks, Bubby.”

She turns back to the road, and for the first time, I see that she has unsuccessfully tried covering a bruise on her right cheek.

“Did he hit you?” I ask.

“Yes.”

“I hate him.”

“No you don’t,” she says. “He’s yer dad.”

“Yes I do.”

A mile outside of town, we pull onto a paved road beneath an overhead sign that reads SHADY LAKE CAMPGROUND. We enter a thick forest of sylvan charm and on each side of the road there are trails entering and exiting the woods. I can see people walking and biking on them. I grow excited. It’s been a very long time since we last went camping. I enjoyed it then and know I’ll enjoy it now.

“Is there a lake here?”

“A big one,” she says.

“Can we swim in it?”

“Yep. We can rent boats, too.”