Finding Bigfoot
by Jessica Lee Anderson
One who walks in another’s tracks leaves no footprints.
– Proverb
Chapter 1
Something was up on Saturday. My parents kept talking in whispers, and when I leaned in to snoop, Mama shooed me out of the kitchen like I was a horsefly. “For goodness sakes, get dressed and do something with your hair, Everdil,” she said.
“And hurry,” Papa added.
“How come?” Other than my annual birthday camping trip on Monday, I didn’t know about any plans.
Papa zipped his lips. Mama stayed quiet too. They started whispering again as soon I strolled down the dark hallway to my bedroom. I changed out of my grubby shorts and Papa’s shabby shirt that I’d worn to sleep, and into my favorite camouflage shorts and matching tank. My hair was tangled, so I pulled it back into a messy, lopsided ponytail.
The bright pink wallpaper in my room made it seem like an unwelcoming, overgrown rose garden, so I walked into the living room, plopped down on the couch, and pretended to read a parenting magazine. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Mama messed with a bag of marshmallows and a box of Toasty Rice Cereal. Papa opened a cupboard to grab something. Clang! A couple of pans rolled onto the linoleum.
“You’re making more of a mess than you’re helping, Raleigh,” Mama said in a snippy tone. Then Papa got the same kitchen horsefly treatment that I did.
Normally, Papa would’ve fussed back, and an argument would’ve started. Instead, he glanced at the clock—fifteen minutes before eleven. Then Papa walked out the back door. It smacked behind him. Mama sighed loudly, but she didn’t nag about it. That was a first.
Things got even weirder when Gramps came over a few minutes later. Normally, he’d be fishing at his cabin on a nice June day like this one.
“Hey, Everdil Pickle,” Gramps said with his arms outstretched.
I smiled. Gramps is the only one who gets away with calling me that. I set the magazine down, and stood up to give him a hug. Even though it was warm out, he was wearing his favorite green flannel shirt that was bumpy from being washed so many times.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
Gramps let go of me, and his wrinkly cheeks seemed to turn red. “Just here to see my favorite grandkid.” He winked. I’m his only grandkid.
A sweet buttery-marshmallow smell filled the air as Mama spread a pile of white-coated goo into a pan.
“You all set to for our trip?” Gramps asked, snapping me out of my buttery-marshmallow haze.
“I’m almost done packing.” The whole last week at Karnack Elementary, all I did was daydream about canoeing to Goat Island. I thought about how my parents and Gramps would set up camp, and then they’d sing the birthday song while I blew out a fiery marshmallow instead of candles. After the sun set, we’d listen to Gramps talk about my grandma and the way things used to be, and then Papa would tell his Bigfoot stories.
Our musical doorbell started chiming a song. “A Hunting We Will Go.”
“I wonder who that could be?” Mama asked before grinning like crazy.
Someone at the door? Papa’s disappearance? Gramps at our house instead of fishing? Rice crispy treats? “What’s going on?” I asked.
“Somebody is turning twelve and deserves a party with her friends,” Mama said. From the way she said it, you’d have thought I was turning five. “You better go see who’s here.”
I sort of felt like I was five when I raced to the door. The doorknob couldn’t twist open fast enough. My smile didn’t fade when I saw Shawna Honeycutt standing on our stoop. She dangled a pink, glittery bag from her dainty finger. The tissue paper swished.
Shawna Honeycutt reminded me of the rose wallpaper in my room. “Mom helped me find you something for your birthday,” she said, handing me the bag.
“Well, thanks,” I said, and spotted Tim Nash waling my way on East Cypress Drive. He’d gotten a short haircut since school let out for the summer. His brown eyes seemed bigger. I straightened out my ponytail. I should’ve at least brushed my hair. I felt Mama’s eyes on me as I invited Shawna and Tim inside, and I bet she was thinking the same thing.
Tim passed me a light, round-shaped package wrapped in newspaper. “Happy birthday.” His cheeks were redder than Gramps’ were earlier.
“Thanks.” When Tim smiled, I wondered if strawberry-colored cheeks were contagious because mine started to feel awfully warm.
I set the gifts down on the pine coffee table Papa had built. Shawna and Mama sat on the loveseat. Tim Nash and I ended up on the couch. When Gramps sat down near us, Tim scooted closer to me. He smelled like Papa’s spicy cologne. The couch cushion dipped down and Tim’s knee bumped against mine. I didn’t dare move as I waited for the doorbell to ring again.
Silence.
I wasn’t too surprised. Only a few kids lived in my small town of Uncertain, Texas, and most were away for the summer.
Let me just say that my birthday party wasn’t full of pony rides and water slides. We sat around for a long while discussing junior high. Mama did most of the talking, mainly about teachers she knew since she’s a teacher’s aide at Karnack Elementary. “Homework in seventh grade is going to be much harder, you know.”
Shawna Honeycutt politely nodded. She must’ve learned all her manners from the acting classes she’d taken in Dallas. Shawna was the lead in every school play, and often bragged how she was the featured star in a mayonnaise commercial. After that gig, she’d gotten a whole year’s supply of mayo, and brought jars to school to give away. She offered me several but I refused since mayo is so disgusting.
As Mama kept talking about homework and rules, Tim Nash gulped, and stared at his super white sneakers like he couldn’t wait until he could put them to good use by hightailing it out of here. When Gramps closed his eyes and started breathing heavy, Mama glanced at her watch. It was almost noon.
“When is Papa coming back?” I asked.
Mama sighed. “I don’t know. Maybe your father needed some fresh air.” My parents always used the code ‘fresh air’ when they needed space from each other. “I think now would be a great time for something to eat.” Without saying anything else, she walked into the kitchen. Tim shifted the tiniest bit, but our knees stayed connected.
Gramps woke up when Mama set some Cokes on the table near my gifts. He helped serve us large chunks of rice crispy treats while mumbling something under his breath about how weird I was for not liking birthday cake. Birthday cake was boring compared to rice crispy treats. They tasted just like they smelled—sweet and slightly buttery.
Right as my ears were full of the sound of my crunching, “A Hunting We Will Go” chimed again.
Someone else had made it to my party! I was almost out of breath when I ran to answer the door, and then I screamed.
A huge, hairy ape leapt into the living room.
Chapter 2
Shawna screamed too. There was nothing dainty about it. A bright light flashed. Mama gasped.
I felt like every part of my body was frozen. Tim Nash wasn’t frozen at all. He jumped up and tried tackling the ape.
Gramps flew to action too and helped Tim take the hairy thing down. I couldn’t believe it when the ape started laughing. The ape’s deep laugh sounded a lot like Papa’s.
Tim and Gramps let go. Black fur stuck to their hands. I REALLY couldn’t believe it when the ape stood up and started singing.
“Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday to you. Happy Birthday dear, Everdil, you smell like a monkey and you look like one too.”
Oh. My. Word. “Papa!” I cried. How could he embarrass me like this? At my party. In front of my friends! This was the worst prank Papa had ever pulled. My cheeks felt like they were warm before, but now it seemed like they’d been stuffed with scorching hot lava.
“You should see the look on your face,” Papa said as he pulled the ape mask off and dropped it to the ground. Papa held up a camera and pointed the lens at me. I blinked right as there was another bright flash. “Your mother and I wanted to surprise you with this camera.” Papa laughed hysterically. Gramps and Tim started laughing too. I was pretty sure I even heard Shawna chuckling. Mama wasn’t laughing. Though I tried my hardest, I couldn’t keep a straight face.
I should’ve been expecting something since Papa often did crazy things on our birthdays. When I turned five, Papa had dressed up like Santa and walked on our roof yelling, “Ho! Ho! Happy Birthday-O!” I’d really thought Santa had traveled all of the way from the North Pole to bring me a birthday present, but the gig was up when part of our rickety roof caved in from his weight. Papa got stuck, and Mama had to call the fire department to rescue him.
For Mama’s fortieth birthday this year, Papa picked us up from school in a limousine packed with balloons. Mama complained that he’d spent too much money, but her eyes sparkled like the glitter on my birthday bag. My folks got into an argument after dinner, but at least the limo ride was fun. The whole town talked about it after like Mama was a celebrity. Shawna was especially impressed.
Papa finally stopped laughing, but from the look on his face, I could tell he was about to start cracking up again. I stared at his furry gloves and rubbery fingers as he handed me the camera. “I hope you like it.”
I was so shocked I’m not sure I even said thanks. I brushed away some strands of black fur that were stuck to the viewfinder before I set it down near my other presents.
Some black fuzz collected on Papa’s clothes as he crawled out of the costume. Mama talked to him in a voice that was much snippier than before. “Raleigh Jackson, this wasn’t how we’d planned the surprise. You better come get some fresh air with me outside. Now!”
Papa stomped after her.
Tim Nash looked back down as his sneakers, and Shawna Honeycutt folded her arms on her lap when Mama and Papa began arguing before they got outside.
Gramps mumbled some more. “How are we ever supposed to take him serious if he dresses up and acts like a big monkey?”
Gramps was talking about how Papa claimed he’d seen Bigfoot. Other than Tim Nash’s dad and a few people from a Bigfoot research group, not many people believed his stories, especially not Mama and Gramps. Papa’s stunts never helped his case.
Tim was a Bigfoot believer like Papa, but I was on the fence like Shawna. From time to time, there would be Bigfoot rumors floating around all of east Texas and even Louisiana. Heck, there happened to be a Big Foot Road in town, and a place called Bigfoot Retreat with a black wooden cutout of the beast planted in the yard.
“Maybe I should be leaving,” Shawna said right as Mama screamed something about how Papa was lucky he didn’t cause his father and all of us to have heart attacks. Some fresh air.
“Please don’t leave, Shawna,” I said. We weren’t as close as we used to be, but I didn’t want her taking off.
Tim held up the present he’d brought. “Want to open this now?”
“Really?” I asked, and then felt dumb for not thinking of something smarter to say instead.
His gift was light as I held it in my hand before ripping the newspaper off. I guessed what it was before I opened it— a baseball cap. It was camouflage and ‘Caddo Lake State Park’ was stitched on the front. His dad was a park ranger there.
When I gave Tim a hug to say thanks, he accidentally boxed me in the ear.
“Sorry.” He pulled away. The smell of his cologne clung to my tank.
“Don’t worry about it.” I rubbed my earlobe before putting the baseball cap on. It tingled more than stung.
When Shawna passed me the gift bag she’d brought, tiny sparkles of glitter stuck to my hand. I pushed the thin, crinkly tissue paper to the side and pulled out something silky and blue.
“A purse?” I asked even though I knew that’s what it was. Nothing was coming out right.
“I hope you don’t hate it.”
“I don’t hate it,” I said. For a purse, it wasn’t so bad. I put the camera inside for safekeeping and thanked them both.
Tim glugged his Coke and Shawna sipped hers without making any noise. I took a swig and my throat felt fizzy as I swallowed. Gramps’ wrinkly eyelids had just started to droop again when the back door opened with a BANG! Mama stormed inside.
“You okay?” I asked even though I knew something was wrong. She’d never slammed that door in all of my almost-twelve years.
“Oh, sure,” she said. “Sorry about that. I’ll be in my room if you need anything.”
There was a loud rumble of Papa’s truck engine followed by the squeal of his tires as he sped off. Shawna glanced at me with wide eyes. I shrugged like this was no big deal even though I could barely breathe. Mama and Papa fought all of the time, but Papa had never taken off like that before. He’d threatened to, but never did.
Was he going to come back? Had he finally left for good? I hadn’t taken another sip of Coke, but my throat felt fizzy again. My stomach too. Papa wouldn’t leave us. Not today of all days. Not ever.
Tears burned my eyes. “Let’s go swimming or something,” I said to Shawna and Tim. I had to get out of the house.
“Good idea,” Gramps said. “I’ll check on Macy while you young folks get some fresh air.”
We caught each other’s eyes when he said that, and then I rushed outside before crumbling.
