A Friend at Midnight Read Free Page A

all. Styrofoam packing peanuts lay like snow, and under all this was the debris of a toddler.
    Lily had only one gift for a sister who wanted out. She managed a smooth smile for Reb and Mom. “Nate and I will be fine on our own. You guys drive safely.”
    Mom was anxious. “It’s such a long time, though. It’s a six-hour drive, more if there’s traffic. We can’t be back till after midnight. What if something happens?”
    â€œThen I’ll handle it,” said Lily. She decided not to tell Mom about the cell phone under the paper napkins. A phone in her purse would mean Mom calling twenty-five times to check up on Lily. What could possibly happen that Lily couldn’t handle?
    Yet the sight of her family driving away had been awful, as if they were being sucked down a tube, never to return. Then of course Nathaniel wanted to play Jump Off the Back Step, a game that involved jumping off the back step. Lily’s job was to applaud and cry, “Wow!” with lots of emphasis on the
w
, and Nate would whisper “Wow”—a good word for him, since he had
w
nailed. They played Jump Off the Back Step until Lily figured that even losing Reb and Michael wasn’t as bad as playing Jump Off the Back Step one more time, so she coaxed Nate in for a very early lunch of tuna salad. Nate loved tuna salad. He always had cat breath because he did not love having his teeth brushed.
    Now he was down for his afternoon nap way too early because she was the one ready for a nap.
    Lily reached the kitchen. The stingy tart smell of the Magic Marker with which Reb labeled her boxes mixed with the fishy scent of tuna salad she’d forgotten to refrigerate. On the kitchen phone, the caller ID showed some out-of-state number. Undoubtedly a sales call. Kells was polite to telephone salespeople. “I’m so sorry,” he would say, “we don’t purchase items over the phone, but thank you anyway.” Mom handled it differently.
    â€œStop phoning me!” she would shout. “I’m never going to want it, whatever it is! Hang up! You hang up first, do you hear me?”
    Neither approach worked. Neither, apparently, did signing up for Do Not Call.
    Lily deleted the number.

    Michael continued to hold the receiver. Even though he was connected to nothing, he felt safer hanging on.
    A shadow fell across him. He looked up to see a uniformed officer standing over him. Michael was not allowed to watch shows like
COPS
because of the violence, but of course he watched them all the time anyway, and he knew what police did in situations like this. They went after the dad.
    â€œHi,” said Michael. “Is that a real gun?” Michael knew perfectly well it was a real gun. This was a cop. What would he have—a cardboard gun? “Have you ever used it?” said Michael. “My mom doesn’t like guns. She won’t let one in the house.”
    The officer smiled. “It is real and your mom is making a good decision.”
    Michael turned to the phone, hoping the officer would leave.
    No such luck. “Where are your folks?” said the cop. His voice was pleasant and warm.
    Michael gestured vaguely. “I just called my sister,” he said. “She’s leaving for college.” He was seized by horror. When was Reb leaving? What if they had already left? All of them? What if his house was empty? What if he called and the phone rang and rang and rang and rang—
and nobody came
? What was he going to do?
    â€œWell, it was nice to talk to you,” he said to the cop, letting go of the comforting phone. It was like letting go of York in the dark. “Bye.” He was only steps from the parents on toy wagons. He needed parents so the cop would forget about him. But all the parents were paying close attention to their children and would speak up if he tried to look like theirs.
    There was one couple kissing and smooching over by the windows.