Tanita S. Davis - Partly Cloudy

For everyone who already knows theres never a bad time to be a good neighborand to those just learning howyouve got this.

It should have been raining.

There should have been thick, slate-colored clouds piled up against a pewter-colored sky. There should have been sharp, cold winds whistling and silver-bright stabs of lightning.

Instead, it was a bright, sunny June-in-California morning, and Madalyn Thomas was cranky.

Normally on the first day of summer, Madalyn would have been pretty thrilled. Summer was for unlimited reading and eating all the strawberries she could fit into her mouth. Summer was for sleeping in and ice-cream trucks. But Madalyn wasnt prepared to be thrilled about summer just yet, because she was still thinking over the last school year.

Sixth grade had been terrible. Even before school began last August, things had started going wrong. First, Madalyns dog, Lucy, had died. Then, her best friend, Avery, had moved far away to Winters. After that, Madalyn found out all the stomachaches she had were because she was lactose intolerant.

And thenon top of that? Madalyns dad was laid off from the job hed had for years and years. Madalyn and her parents had to move from their cozy-cute townhouse to an older house on the other side of town where the rent was less expensive. Madalyn had to change schools, too, and Robinson Howard Middle School wasnt even a little bit nice. It was big and gray, and the lights in the library had dead bugs in them. The cafeteria was huge, and without Avery, Madalyn never knew who to sit with. Her first day, there was a huge food fightand she got spaghetti in her hair.

The day a kid named Mark brought a gun in his backpack to show around was the worst. People were screaming. Teachers were panicking. Madalyn forgot everything she had learned in shooter drills and ran out of the cafeteria into the bathroom and hid on a toilet seat, choking down sobs and hoping no one came in.

Madalyn survived the school yearand Lucy dying and Avery moving and never having dairy ice cream again without taking a pill. But she was determined never, ever, ever, ever to go back to Robinson Howard Middle School again.

Which her mom said was fine.

What do you mean, its fine? Madalyn blurted, twisting around in her seat at the table.

Its been a rough year for all of us, babe, Mom said, tilting the pan and swirling the eggs as they cooked. She looked up and flashed Madalyn a smile, her brown cheeks dimpling. Skies are clearing, though. Your dad and I have a plan.

Great. Madalyn rolled her eyes. She knew all about Mom and her weather metaphors. The winds of change are blowing was what shed said when shed told Madalyn they were leaving Gold Hill. Your dad and I have a plan was Momspeak for were changing something elseand change wasnt something Madalyn wanted to deal with at seven a.m. on a Sunday. She was only up at that hour because Daddy was catching a flight to Cambridge in Massachusetts for a Monday job interview, and Mom wanted the family to eat together before he left. As soon as he was on the way to the airport, Madalyn was going back to bed.

She yawned and gave in to her curiosity. What plan, Mom? Robinson Howard is the only middle school around here. That was true, not counting the local girls Catholic school, Sacred Heart. Madalyn loved their sharp blazers and tartan skirts but hadnt liked the idea of wearing white knee socks every single day, just like two hundred other seventh-grade girls. Now Madalyn kind of wished she were Catholic, just a little. Blazers, at least, werent bullets.

Its going to take strategy and a little more teamwork, Mom said, putting the hot skillet on the metal trivet to protect the tabletop, but there might be another option for next year.

Madalyn straightened. What option? Youre going to teach me at home?

Oh, no thanks, Mom said, laughing. Youre too smart for me already. Listen, babedont worry about it, all right? Something is going to work out, just wait and see.

Madalyn sighed. She hated waiting for anything. Fortunately, just then Madalyns father rolled his luggage into the kitchen, and then there was sourdough toast, eggs, and sliced avocado to distract her.

Ten minutes after shed hugged and kissed her father and stood in the driveway to wave goodbye, Madalyn was back under her snuggly flannel comforter and cuddling down with a book when she heard the house phone ring. She almost didnt answer it. No one ever called the landline except robocallers and people asking questions about politics. Mom and Daddy didnt use itthey always had their cell phones. But Madalyn got nosy and got up after the phone rang three times.

Thomas residence, she said, a little winded from her dash across the hall.

Macie? Wheres my worthless neveu? How come he dont call me on my birthday? The voice was strident.

This is Madalyn, not Macie, Madalyn corrected. Moms not here right now. Is this?

Ooh, little Madalyn! You sound just like your mamm! How you doing? This your Papa Lobo, so wheres that daddy of yours?

I thought it was you! Madalyn grinned. Papa Lobo was Madalyns great-uncle, the brother of her grandfather Collinor Grandpa Collie, as the cousins had called him since they were small. Papa Lobo had followed his brother to California when they were young men, and though Grandpa Collie had gone home to Louisiana when he retired, Papa Lobo was still a couple of hours away in Sheldon.

How are you, Papa Lobo?

How you think I am? Im seventy-three. Im an old, old man, ch, he said, and Madalyn felt giggles rising at his tone.

Happy birthday, old, old man, Madalyn teased. Im sorry, but Daddys not here. Hes on his way to the airport. Hes got another interview.

Oh, thats right, thats right. Well, I guess Ill have to wait on him to call me, then, the old man said. You tell him to call me when he gets home, you hear?

You dont have to wait, Madalyn said quickly. You have his cell number, right? Or you can send him an email. Hell get it on the plane.

Dont matter, Papa Lobo said abruptly. I got to go; I got my poker game. You be sweet, Madalyn, and tell that mama of yours I said hey.

The line disconnected, and Madalyn kept smiling as she hung up. She didnt know her great-uncle that well, but she liked Papa Lobo. He was a little... different than most people. Papa Lobo wrote letters on paper and didnt use a computer. He read a paper newspaper all the way through, and listened to talk shows on the radio, and he didnt text, ever. Instead of driving his truck all the time like most adults, he rode a wide-tired bicycle with a big basket around his town instead. Mom said it was because he was a small-town nonconformist and had done things his way forever. Madalyn thought Papa Lobo just liked to be contrary, as Grandpa Collie put it. Madalyn knew Papa Lobo wouldnt call Daddy back, that was for sure; Daddy would have to call him, or Papa Lobo would never let him hear the end of it.

Later that evening when Daddy called from his hotel in Cambridge, her mother put the call on speaker, and Madalyn passed her message along. Daddy, you forgot Papa Lobos birthday.