I saw something shiny and I went over to the burnt-out fire, and there was a big triangle of tinfoil. Just like the one in our backyard. I picked it up.
“What’s that?”
“Nothing,” I said.
But Shar snatched it out of my hand. “It’s a hat.” She opened it up and put it on her head. “Who’d make a dumb pirate hat in the woods?” She crumbled it up and threw it into the creek.
It floated for a second and then it went under the water. I wondered if the triangle I found in my backyard was a pirate hat too.
Another branch broke and me and Shar both jumped.
“Maisy,” she said in a shivery way. “I’m afraid.”
Shar didn’t look afraid. She looked excited. The same face she got when she stole stuff. Like the time she found one of those glass machines with a twist knob that gave out candy. It wasn’t working and didn’t need money and she twisted like mad. She filled up her cheeks and her pockets and the inside of her tucked-in top until candy was dropping out the bottoms of her jeans.
“What if he leaps out and stabs us in the guts?”
“Who leaps out?”
“That man who lives under here.”
“He don’t live here no more,” I said. “The police took him.” The police grabbed Carl.
Shar’s mouth was hanging open and she was breathing loud. “But what if, Maisy?”
“Carl wouldn’t stab us,” I said with my teeth locked up. “Carl’s nice.”
“Nice, she says.” Shar started yelling and the sound bounced all around under the bridge. “The bum that drowned my brother is really nice!”
“I didn’t say that.”
I wanted to cry. I couldn’t do that in front of Shar, and I wished she was gone. I wished her dog would find a hole in her backyard and escape under her fence and sniff her out and come chomp right down on her squishy fat. Like he did with those poor rabbits.
* * *
—
When we got out of the woods it was almost dark. Gloria was racing across the grass at us, her yellow hair was standing up. “Maisy! Where did you go? I was calling you! I’ve been frantic.”
“I didn’t mean—”
“And you!” Gloria pointed a finger right in Shar’s face. “You get yourself home, miss. Erma’s gone wild looking for you.”
Shar’s eyes went big and round and she took off up the driveway like her backside was on fire.
Gloria squeezed my arms. “Are you trying to drive me completely bonkers, Maisy Janes? I get back from work and you’ve vanished. You know what happened in there. You think because they got that man in jail it’s safe to trot around? Well, it isn’t. What if there’s another one of him? Did you think of that? Or a hundred? Like animals. Like wolves.”
I shook my head fast. And swallowed. The crying was still right behind my eyes wanting to explode out.
“Why’d you go in there?”
“Following Shar,” I said. I didn’t say nothing about the woods or the bridge or the tinfoil hat.
“Last thing I’d be doing is following a twit like Shar.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
“I can’t take much more worry,” she said. “I’m nearly gone inside.”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” Tears poured out of my eyes, and she held my wrist and marched me across the grass. When we got inside she told me to sit in a chair and not budge an inch. She even called Telly on the phone.
“Yes, it’s me again. Don’t you even care where your daughter’s been?”
MAISY
The next morning Gloria told me to put on the blue dress I wore when I was on TV. Telly was going to come and get me. “He’s taking you out somewhere,” she said. “To talk some sense into you.” I brushed my teeth and my hair and I went downstairs. Gloria was coming up from the basement. “Hurry up. He’ll be here any minute,” and she dropped a zipped-up bag by my feet. It sounded like rocks were inside. “You can tell him that’s the last of them. Seeing as he cares so much.”
“About what?”
“His guns. Now he got no reason to step foot in my house.” She pinched my chin and leaned down close. “And did you know? Gloria wants to tell you something. I’m going to do up a surprise down there. Make our basement into an amazing spot when it’s finished.”
“Really?” I smiled as hard as I could.
“After all we’ve been through, miss, you bet I’m doing something special. I’ve got big plans.”
I hugged Gloria tight as I could. Then I put on my shoes and picked up the heavy bag and walked to the bottom of the circle. Gloria told me to stand there because she didn’t even want Telly coming down her driveway. When I turned around I could see her face in the kitchen window. She was frowning. The truck came, all shiny, and Telly got out. He ran around and opened the other door for me and I climbed in and dragged the bag up on the seat.
When he got back in he said, “What you got there, Miss Maisy?”
“Guns,” I said.
“Jesus.”
“Gloria said you don’t need to set foot inside her house now.”
He lifted the bag up by the handles and tucked it behind his seat. “She did, did she? Her house.”
I sipped at the air. “I don’t know. Maybe not. I don’t think.” It smelled clean in there. A cardboard lemon swung from the mirror.
“Never you mind, Bids. That’s between me and your mother. She shouldn’t be giving you my guns, is all.”
“They weren’t very heavy,” I said.
Telly drove the truck around and when we came out of the circle he stopped where a lady was standing on the side of the road. She was wearing a frilly dress the color of peaches and the wind lifted it up. Telly got out and the lady slid under the steering wheel and went in the middle.
“Hello, Maisy,” she said. “My name’s Dian. I’m your dad’s friend.”
“Don’t be shy,” Telly said as we drove away.
“Hi,” I whispered.
She was in the same spot where Gloria sat that time Telly drove us home from the police place. But she didn’t put her hands all inside Telly’s clothes like Gloria did.
“Do you want to have brunch?”
I shook my head. I never had a brunch before.
“It’s kind of like breakfast and lunch mixed together. You can choose lunch things, you know, burgers or fried chicken or a grilled cheese, or you can have breakfast. Waffles. Sausages. Or both of it together, if that’s what you want.” Her hands were in her lap now. “It’s okay. You don’t need to say anything. We’re going to have a nice time.”
My mouth filled up with spit. I knew that lady was trying to trick me. She was pretending to be nice.
We went to a spot called Barney’s Diner. It had red booths and plastic tables and the floor was a black-and-white checkerboard. Telly said, “Go on, Bids. Whatever you want.”
A lady in an apron was beside my shoulder with a pencil and notepad. I pointed to the picture of blueberry pancakes and sausages on my placemat. “And that,” I said. “Strawberry milkshake.”
When the food came, I knew Telly’s friend was reading my mind. “Don’t worry,” she said soft. “If you can’t finish it all. I never manage.”
The milkshake was good. The pancakes were really good. I burst some of the blueberries between my teeth.
“Yum, hey?” Telly said. He smiled. His teeth were so dazzly. I could see why his friend liked him so much, even though he looked like a stranger to me.
I nodded. “Yum.”
“We’re going to do this regular, Maise. I promise. You, me, and Dian.”
“No reason we shouldn’t,” she said.
Then his face went red. “I just wish we could have your brother here, too. I wish that. More than anything.” His eyes turned watery and he put his fists in them. “Damn,” he said and stood up. Then he went to the back of the diner.
“Oh,” Dian said. “Your dad’s so distraught. I don’t know how he’s keeping it all together.�
� Then she touched my hand. “And you, Maisy? Are you doing okay? It’s such an impossible thing you’re all going through. With your brother.”
Maybe it was because my stomach was full of warm br-lunch. Or because when she smiled her eyes looked sad. Or because her peachy dress was so pretty. I told her how sweet the milkshake was. And about Gloria sleeping all day when she wasn’t at work. I told her about the dead bird me and Rowan buried. And that Shar was my best friend and she said she could swim down and find Rowan. And I told her how much I missed trying to figure out his skin map. And that I kept a little picture of Rowan under my pillow. And how Jenny the Head didn’t have a body for her heart, and I kept losing her. And that there were wolves in the woods behind our house. And how Gloria thought Mrs. Spooner watched our house, and her cats used Shar’s broken-down sandbox as a litter box. And that I didn’t want them to find Rowan in the water because then he could never come home. I was going to tell her about Rowan standing out in the bad storm, but I stopped. Instead I told her about Shar’s cousin, Darrell. How he was tall and had an earring and a leather bracelet and a motorcycle and how he told Shar to shut up because she was stupid. The lady giggled a little bit. I knew I said too much about Darrell. I said too much to Dian.
Dian wasn’t listening to me no more. She was looking at a man standing next to Telly, who had got back in his seat.
“Tony here’s a volunteer fireman,” Telly said to her. “I fixed up his car.”
“You sure did,” he said. He had on a ball cap. It was the same red as the one Rowan always wore. “Gave me a great price, too.”
“Just trying to do good,” Telly said. The lady bent her head over. She smiled at him.
“I’m sorry, man, about your boy.”
Telly took a deep breath. “Yeah, they got that bastard locked up. An institution a hundred miles north. Got to evaluate him, they’re saying.”
“Figures. Taxpayers’ money, when that type should just be taken out and shot.”
“Yeah.”
“Do society a favor. No loss there.”
“That’s for sure.” Then Telly said to Dian, “Tony’s involved with the dive.”
“Oh my,” she said back. She shook her head.
“Just heading back out there now.”
“What’s going on?” Telly said. “Can’t get a straight answer out of anyone. Why haven’t they found him yet?”
The man tapped his hat. “The team’s doing their best. I can tell you that, but it’s a real mess underwater. Lot of trash down there.”
“Trash?”
“Years of people dumping everything under the sun. It piles up. Won’t decay.”
“Terrible,” Dian said.
“Plus, the sediment. Even as careful as we are, once it gets disturbed, it’s nearly impossible to see. That lake is sixty-plus feet deep in places.”
“Jesus,” said Telly.
“And the witness. She’s hazy on where she even saw the boat. She couldn’t position it in relation to any landmarks, just never took notice. We can’t triangulate.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know, use some other markers to get a better idea. She just said she saw them out a ways. Wasn’t very specific.”
Telly rubbed at his face. His eyes went pink again. “What can we expect, Tony? I just want to bring him home, you know? It don’t seem right. Not being able to—you know.”
The man looked at me then, and they both took a step away. The man talked quiet, but I could still hear.
“Most likely, he’ll surface. Could be days, could be weeks. I don’t know a delicate way to frame it.”
“Just say it, Tony. I’m okay.” Telly didn’t look okay.
“There are instances on record where the individual never floats up.” He put his hand on Telly’s shoulder. “You got to be prepared for that.”
* * *
—
When I got home, Gloria called me into the kitchen. She was sitting at the table and she had a different dress on. I didn’t tell her it looked the exact same as the dress Dian was wearing at br-lunch. The same sweet peachy color. The same little flowers.
Instead I said, “It’s nice.”
“Nice? Can’t you think of anything better to say?”
I looked down.
“Well, I deserve it. Belinda loaned me her car today. I went for a stroll along Faye Street. No reason I can’t shop in those snooty little stores. Like everyone else.”
“Faye Street? I was there, too.”
“I know,” Gloria said. “Barney’s Diner. You and Telly and that other thing were sitting up front by the big window. Did you know your dad used to take me there? That man has no imagination.”
With her foot she pushed out a chair. Then she patted the seat.
“Now, tell me everything. What did she eat?”
I frowned.
“Something greasy, I bet.”
“I don’t know.”
“What do you mean, you don’t know? I saw you sitting right across from her.”
“Kind of.”
“Do you think she’s pretty, Bids?”
I shook my head.
“Tell the truth.”
I could feel the woodpecker stepping up. His claw dug into my neck and stung my throat. “Not one bit.” When I said that, all the food got hard in my middle.
“Gloria’s girl.” She got closer. “Did she talk to you?”
“A little,” I said.
“Did you talk back?”
“No.” I looked at Gloria’s hair. There was a little line of brown growing behind the yellow again. “I had to eat my food.”
“Did he ask about me?”
I nodded.
“What’d you say?”
“I said you were good.”
She went back like someone pushed her hard. “Good? You said good? My husband took off and my son is out there somewhere, and they can’t even find him, and I’m good?”
I blinked. The kitchen went full of shadows.
“I don’t know,” I whispered.
“Did you say something else?”
I swallowed. “I said you cried a lot about Rowan.”
“Mm.” Her mouth closed up. “That’s the truth.”
“And that you were being a real good mom.”
“He asked that?”
“No. I said it. And that I was happy staying with you.”
“Tell me.” She puffed out a lot of air. “Tell me that man did not ask you that.”
My face got hot.
“He did, I know by your look. That bastard asked if you were happy with me. Tell me again, Bids, exactly what he said. Word for word.”
Her hands were spread out on the table. She was real close to me. I put my fingertips on my neck to keep the woodpecker from bursting out through my skin. Then I told her and told her the story of br-lunch. Until I got it exactly right.
MAISY
A couple of nights later Aunt Erma and Darrell came over to help Gloria with an outside fire. Shar wasn’t allowed because she was still in trouble. Gloria was burning cardboard and a bunch of magazines and old baskets from the shed. Darrell used a hammer to take apart old boxes Telly made. One box had wheels. Darrell tossed the wood in the fire. Sparks went up into the sky. He threw the wheels in too. I watched the rubber bubble and melt.
“You been such a help, Darrell,” Gloria said. “I wouldn’t even know how to get it started.”
“It’s easy,” he said and laughed. “And it sure gets rid of stuff fast.”
“That it does,” Gloria said. She picked up some dirty rope and put it on top of the fire. Then she put in a mat that used to say “Welcome.”
I crouched where there was no smoke, and stuck a stick into the flames.
“This is good for you. Cleaning out your house. Taking a few shifts at Stafford’s.” Aunt Erma put her arm around Gloria. “It’s not too much for you, is it? They’re not expecting too much too soon?”
Gloria twisted and
Aunt Erma’s arm dropped away. “You know, Telly’s wanted to clear out the shed for years. One less thing for him to do.”
“Really? If I was you, I’d be tossing his crap right in the middle of it. Whatever he left behind.”
Gloria frowned. “Why would I do that?”
“ ’Cause he took off? ’Cause he’s out there messing around? ’Cause it might make you feel the tiniest bit better?”
“He’s coming back.”
I stopped poking the fire with my stick.
“Since when?” Aunt Erma said.
“I ran into him this morning getting a few groceries. You know, it’s funny, I don’t usually go all the way out there. But Belinda was nice enough to lend me her car, and—and before I went to work, I just felt like going somewhere different.”
“You saw him, what, buying milk?”
“I know. Telly’s never been in a supermarket in his life.”
“Was she there?”
“Oh, she was. Trying to keep him on a short leash, I’ll tell you that. And he didn’t even look at her, Erm, when he talked to me. Not one glimpse. I could tell he’s getting tired of her. Trying to be whatever she thinks he should be. It’s just not Telly. He’s getting worn out with it. I’m expecting a call any day.”
“Well, it’d be good to have him back, wouldn’t it? You two need to grieve together. I mean, my heart’s broken for both of you.”
The fire was starting to get small when a car crunched down the driveway. It stopped in front of our house. The porch light was on and I could see the star on the door. I stood. My heart went up in my neck.
The glow came on inside the car. There were two people inside. One got out. It was the man with the funny ties, but it was too dark to see what one he was wearing.
Gloria went over. “Detective Aiken? Did something happen?”
“Rowan.” I whispered it out loud by accident. Darrell must’ve heard me. He reached down and he held my hand. My cheeks got hot.
“I don’t want you to be alarmed, ma’am.” The man shook his head. “This is not pertaining to Rowan.”
“Well, what is it then?”
“Mrs. Janes.” He wiped his nose. “We’ve had a complaint. Normally I’d have one of my officers handle this sort of issue, but I thought to drop by myself. Sort this out.”
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