Contents ( 42)
- The Art of Breathing
- Part One: How We Became Who We Are
- Prologue: Or, Where the Kid Hears the Word of the Day
- 1. Where Tyson Learns to Breathe
- 2. Where Tyson Makes a Phone Call
- 3. Where Tyson Graduates and Bear Freaks Out
- 4. Where Tyson Says Good-Bye
- 5. Where Tyson Gets the Mail
- Part Two: Coming Home
- 6. Where Tyson Comes Home
- 7. Where Tyson Gives a History Lesson
- 8. Where Tyson Attends the Most Awkward Party Ever
- 9. Where Tyson Plans Attends a Protest
- 10. Where Tyson Gets Arrested
- 11. Where Tyson Gets His Ass Handed to Him
- 12. Where Tyson Writes Bad Poetry and Gawks at Frat Boys
- 13. Where Tyson Decides to Man the Fuck Up
- 14. Where Tyson Asks Some Questions
- 15. Where Tyson Remembers Theresa Jean Paquinn
- 16. Where Tyson Learns the Benefit of Therapy
- 17. Where Tyson Meets the Man Who Becomes Helena Handbasket
- 18. Where Tyson Gets Screwed at His Own Birthday Party (And Not in a Good Way)
- Part Three: Just Breathe
- 19. Where Tyson Goes to Helena Handbasket’s Sex Dungeon
- 20. Where Tyson Beholds the Awesome Wonder That Is Paul Auster
- 21. Where Tyson Receives Advice from the Six Sages
- 22. Where Tyson Makes a Phone Call
- 23. Where Tyson Hears the Inevitable
- 24. Where Tyson Meets His Match
- 25. Where Tyson Says Hello, Where Tyson Says Good-bye
- 26. Where Tyson Touches upon the Inevitable
- 27. Where Tyson Faces the Music
- 28. Where Tyson Breathes
- 29. Tyson And Dominic
- 30. The Art Of Breathing
- Epilogue: Or, Bear’s Perspective, As It Were (Yeah, He’s Gonna Freak)
- Author’s Note
- Excerpt
- Prologue: Or, Where Bear Answers the Door
- More from TJ Klune
- Readers love the Bear, Otter, and the Kid Chronicles by TJ Klune
- By TJ Klune
Bear opens his mouth to speak, but Otter grabs his hand and shakes his head.
Just breathe. That’s all I need to do. That’s all this is about. All I need to do is breathe. Like I was told. Eddie taught me that I’m bigger than my fears. I’m better than my fears. Hold it in for three seconds. One. Two. Three. Let it out for three seconds. One. Two. Three….
“Because he’s going to be fine, right?” I continue, ignoring the slightly high-pitched sound of my own voice. “He’s going to be fine and it’s not even going to matter. He’s probably getting too old for someone like me, anyway. I’m just a kid. I mean, my name is the Kid. He’s got other things to focus on. He’s got other things to worry about. He’s a cop now. He’s got to focus on that. He’s got to focus on that so he can go home every day safe and sound. That’s what he needs to focus on. Besides, he’s got all his cop friends and all his new buddies, and they’ve got to be the ones who take care of him now. They’ve got to be the ones to watch his back. I’m just some kid. I’m just—” My breath catches in my throat, but I push through it. “I’m just a little guy, you know? There’s not much I can do about it.”
“Kid…,” Bear starts, but then he stutters a bit. “Tyson,” he tries again, “why haven’t you brought this up before?”
I look at him incredulously. Hasn’t he heard a single word I’ve said? “Do you hear how I sound, Bear? Like I’ve got a mouthful of crazy! Of course I haven’t brought this up before. It’s ridiculous.”
His brow furrows and his jaw twitches. “And I distinctly remember a promise you made to us that you wouldn’t let things get this far. That you’d talk to us before you could start to panic.”
“I’m not panicking,” I mutter, even as my heart thuds in my chest. “I just thought….”
“You thought what?”
I look down at our hands. I touch his thumb, the knuckle between my fingers. “I just thought I could handle this.”
“That’s not part of the deal we made,” he reminds me. He sounds a bit pissed off but like he’s trying to hold it in. That makes me feel worse, but I don’t know how to tell him that.
“Bear,” Otter says quietly, knocking his leg gently against my shin. “Let’s let him finish. Okay? We’ll figure it out, but he needs to get it all out.”
Papa Bear looks like he wants to argue and sputters a bit, but then he deflates and nods. I don’t want him to pull his hand away. I don’t think he will, but I latch on to it just in case.
“I want to go,” I tell them. It’s a truth, though I don’t know how complete it is. “I need to go.” That’s more of a truth. I don’t know if that makes it better or worse. “I know it’s a lot to ask, uprooting all our lives here. If I thought I could accomplish the same things in Seafare, I would stay. I don’t want to live anywhere else. But I have to. If I’m going to make anything of myself, I have to go. I have to see what I’m capable of. I have to see what I can do, because, Bear? Otter? I think… I think I can do a lot. I think I can make changes to the world. I think I can make it better. And I have to find out.”