Precerpt from Nothing So Broken (Richards)

Available now on pre-order! Nothing So Broken - war, memoir, more. Today we provide a precerpt (an excerpt from a book not yet published) -

-ally-

The largest maple tree along with the secret superhero base was cut down first. It was deemed too big and much too close to the house; the expanding roots had expanded, building up pressure against the foundation.

A year or two later, the pair of smaller maples followed, but the landscaper left the stumps and never came back to finish. They sat anchored in the front lawn for years, oozing rainbow-bright rot into the surrounding grass. Mushrooms and other fungi blossomed.

But Kim Anderson was wicked mint, an eighth grader with chestnut curls framing freckled cheeks and soft brown eyes. Her friends, Marie Labreck and Michelle Nadeau, were also suddenly cute, and then there was this tall girl in my math class with blond, spikey hair, and Oh My God! What was happening to me?

I’d notice Kim talking with her friends in the cafeteria, and my cheeks would flush. She’d walk by me in the hall, and my pulse would pound like I was running sprints. I think she might have smiled at me once, and the afternoon went blank.

Fortunately, I had Johnny, resident Love Guru, to consult on such matters. With four older brothers, he possessed an impressive understanding of girls and dating. I needed to ask Kim out, he said. Out where? Outside? “Out on a date,” he said, shaking his head. We agreed that outsourcing would be wise. Johnny would ask her for me.

The day of the question arrived. Was Kim to be my girlfriend? Were we going out? God help me if she said yes. I left school early that day for a doctor’s appointment and missed Johnny on the bus ride home. Later in the afternoon, I walked down to the Bott’s house.

Steven answered the door. Everything inside me tightened. “Is Johnny home?” I asked.

He turned and yelled upstairs for John while I rocked back and forth, wishing he would go away. Instead, he waited, a curious expression on his face.

“I heard you asked Kim Anderson out,” he said.

I stopped breathing.

“Nice move,” he said.

A compliment from Steven; the Apocalypse would be starting soon.

“She’s cute,” he added.

“Yes, she is,” I said, and suddenly, if only for a moment, I had an older brother.

Granted, he was Johnny’s brother, but Johnny had three other brothers he preferred to Steven. For me, though, the oldest of my generation, there were no brothers, sisters, or cousins to consult. Steven, a freshman in high school, had been on dates and knew the difference between a nice move and a bad one. His validation calmed the confusion I felt. Maybe everything would be all right with this dating thing.

Johnny appeared at the doorway with a couple of gloves and a baseball.

“So?” I asked.

He handed me one of the gloves and joined me outside. “Well, she has no idea who you are … but she’s definitely not interested.”

“Oh.”

Steven paused before shutting the door and shrugged. “It was still a nice move.”

Keywords:

New England memoir, Vietnam War legacy, trauma and healing memoir, coming-of-age true story, memoir about father and son, real-life story of resilience, personal story of grief and growth, emotional healing journey, memoir of small-town life, family trauma memoir, impact of war on families, veterans and PTSD family stories, intergenerational trauma, inspirational memoir about loss, adult child of a veteran, memoir set in a mill town, friendship and tragedy true story, memoir about overcoming fear and grief, how to heal from family trauma, memoir about growing up with a veteran parent, finding hope through personal crisis, true story of surviving emotional loss, lessons from a father's wartime wounds, memoir about friendship, trauma, and redemption

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