Monkey Island Read Free Page B

“Go to it.”
    As he looked at the food, Clay was afraid he might shout with the hunger he suddenly felt and that had been, somehow, postponed until this very minute. He ate everything. When he’d finished, he looked up to see that Jacob had fallen over on his side and was moaning. Mrs. Larkin took hold of his shoulders and set him upright as though he was a big doll.
    She turned to Clay. “Tell me,” she said.
    â€œShe didn’t come back,” he said.
    â€œSince when?”
    â€œFive days,” he answered.
    â€œYou’ve been alone all this time?” she asked.
    He nodded.
    â€œDid you go to school every day?”
    He shook his head.
    Mrs. Larkin gripped her hands together.
    â€œClay, I think we have to do something about this. You know, your mother’s going to have a baby. She shouldn’t be out there … wandering the streets.”
    A shaft of fear went through him. Like his hunger, the fear had been postponed until now. The two people he knew best in the world, who knew him best, were gone, hidden somewhere in the vast city.
    He guessed Mrs. Larkin would get hold of someone like Miss You-can’t-fool-me, and she would ask him questions he couldn’t answer. Or worse, a policeman would take him to an unknown place, and when his mother came back, he’d be gone. Then all three of them would be lost to one another.
    â€œShe’ll be back,” he said in a whisper.
    â€œIn the morning, I’ll make some phone calls,” Mrs. Larkin said. She was staring hard at him and she must have seen the fear he felt. “There have to be phone calls,” she said, and reached out to pat his shoulder.
    â€œShe’s gone away before,” he said quickly. “And I’ve got food. I just didn’t eat it because … there was a lost dog in the stairwell and I gave it to him.” That dog again, he thought, remembering the story he’d made up to tell his father. His alibi dog.
    Mrs. Larkin went to adjust a pillow behind Jacob’s back, and he suddenly flung his arms around her and hid his face in her neck.
    â€œThere, there …” she said absently, stroking his thin, stiff hair.
    After a moment, she turned back to Clay. “You’ll have to be alone tonight,” she said. “Unless you’d like to bring in a blanket and sleep on the floor? You’re welcome to do that, but Jacob makes a fearsome amount of noise at night and it would keep you awake.” She looked at Clay silently. Then, as though she’d made up her mind, she said firmly, “No, I won’t wait till morning. I ought to do it now. You could watch Jacob for me, and I’ll go down to the lobby and call the police to tell them your mama is missing.”
    â€œShe isn’t missing,” Clay protested. Why had he been so stupid as to tell her about the five days?
    â€œYes, I’ll do that,” Mrs. Larkin said. “It might take a while if there’s a lot of people lined up for the phone. But it’s late, so maybe there won’t be. It’s awful you’ve been by yourself with all the trash doing their nasty things all over this place.”
    â€œAll right, I’ll watch Jacob,” Clay said, feeling his breath coming fast. “But I’d like to get a book I’m reading from my room. I’ll come right back.”
    â€œOkay, Clay,” she said.
    He could see she believed him and he felt bad about what he was going to do, almost as bad as he felt about the fear and uncertainty of it.
    He went next door to the room. On the rack, next to the white blouse and blue skirt his mother wore when she had to go to agencies and sign papers so they could get help, was his beige corduroy jacket. He had never worn it around the hotel, because someone would have taken it from him. Next to the jacket, hanging by a loop on a hanger, was his old down jacket. He could hardly get into it anymore, it was so tight, and