instead walked back to Amy. I can shop for what I need tomorrow. Now I want to be with her. Her eyes widened as he entered theroom, and he could see her struggling with the chair. He smiled to himself as he circled behind her bound form.
“You need to learn to calm down,” said Hooper. Not for the first time, he wished he’d learned something of medicine in Southeast Asia, but he hadn’t. NyQuil might do the trick. If it didn’t, booze would. “I can get something to help you relax,” said Hooper. “But for right now, how about something to eat?” He ran his fingers through her hair, and she jerked away from him. “You’ve got to be hungry,” he said, cupping her chin and looking into her eyes. She was tearing up, no longer feeling tough. For Hooper, seeing her already beginning to crack was like receiving a gift from God. “Good girl. I’ll make you some toast, and if you can eat it and don’t try and scream, maybe we’ll talk about what I need from you.” She nodded her head slowly, tears streaking her cheeks. Perfect.
14
“I still don’t think it means anything,” said Luke. “So some detective is driving around and asking questions, so what? That’s just his job. I say she turns up in a day or so, tired and maybe still a little hungover.”
“It’s not like all we want to do is go rummaging around the woods,” said Tim. “But we would be, like, the coolest if she were lost back there, or hurt or something, and we found her.”
“Or dead,” said Luke. “Or say we do play cops, like you guys want, and we find her with her guts torn out? Have either of you thought about that? You know, considered the actual bad parts of this, and not just thought, Oh, cool, cops are at my house ? Where I live, the cops’ being at your house is really uncool. The reality is that if she is out there, she’s probably dead, and I’m not going to lie, I don’t need to see that.”
“What crawled up your ass?” Scott asked. “So what if we think it’s cool that we got to talk to the cops or whatever? It is pretty cool.”
“Whatever.”
“Look,” said Tim, trying to bring reasonableness back to a normally very reasonable Luke. “We don’t need to do anything. Ifwe decide we want to go look for clues or whatever, we’ll do it as a group. Just like everything else that we do, and you know that,” he said, pointing at Luke. “But what is it with you lately?”
“What do you mean?” Luke asked, but he kept his eyes on the floor.
“I don’t know what I mean, but you’re, like, all…I don’t know, lately. Something’s going on with you. It’s obvious. If you want to tell us what’s really going on, I wish you’d just go for it.”
“It’s everything, OK?” Luke said hoarsely, his friends thinking that he might actually cry, and how scary that might be. Crying was for skinned knees, not emotional breakdowns. “Everything in my life is getting so fucked up. You want to know something crazy? I made my sisters’ lunch like an hour ago, and you know what they were doing? Smoking. They’re eleven years old and they smoke cigarettes, and apparently my mom is totally fine with it. They don’t have to do anything but sit around and watch TV, and I have to do everything. Plus, my mom doesn’t work, and she’s never home. Even when she’s there, she’s on the phone all the time, just totally forgetting the fact that she has these three kids she’s supposed to take care of. Plus, she’s fucked up all the time. And not like when one of you guys’ dads has too many beers or whatever. I mean she gets really fucked up, like, pisses her pants or throws up on herself.”
There was a long moment when none of them talked or looked at each other. The sounds of the forest trickled into the fort, and then a lawn mower started up somewhere.
Finally Scott said, “That sucks, man. Seriously. But if it helps at all, no one has a perfect life. At least you see your dad a few times a year. I never
“You need to learn to calm down,” said Hooper. Not for the first time, he wished he’d learned something of medicine in Southeast Asia, but he hadn’t. NyQuil might do the trick. If it didn’t, booze would. “I can get something to help you relax,” said Hooper. “But for right now, how about something to eat?” He ran his fingers through her hair, and she jerked away from him. “You’ve got to be hungry,” he said, cupping her chin and looking into her eyes. She was tearing up, no longer feeling tough. For Hooper, seeing her already beginning to crack was like receiving a gift from God. “Good girl. I’ll make you some toast, and if you can eat it and don’t try and scream, maybe we’ll talk about what I need from you.” She nodded her head slowly, tears streaking her cheeks. Perfect.
14
“I still don’t think it means anything,” said Luke. “So some detective is driving around and asking questions, so what? That’s just his job. I say she turns up in a day or so, tired and maybe still a little hungover.”
“It’s not like all we want to do is go rummaging around the woods,” said Tim. “But we would be, like, the coolest if she were lost back there, or hurt or something, and we found her.”
“Or dead,” said Luke. “Or say we do play cops, like you guys want, and we find her with her guts torn out? Have either of you thought about that? You know, considered the actual bad parts of this, and not just thought, Oh, cool, cops are at my house ? Where I live, the cops’ being at your house is really uncool. The reality is that if she is out there, she’s probably dead, and I’m not going to lie, I don’t need to see that.”
“What crawled up your ass?” Scott asked. “So what if we think it’s cool that we got to talk to the cops or whatever? It is pretty cool.”
“Whatever.”
“Look,” said Tim, trying to bring reasonableness back to a normally very reasonable Luke. “We don’t need to do anything. Ifwe decide we want to go look for clues or whatever, we’ll do it as a group. Just like everything else that we do, and you know that,” he said, pointing at Luke. “But what is it with you lately?”
“What do you mean?” Luke asked, but he kept his eyes on the floor.
“I don’t know what I mean, but you’re, like, all…I don’t know, lately. Something’s going on with you. It’s obvious. If you want to tell us what’s really going on, I wish you’d just go for it.”
“It’s everything, OK?” Luke said hoarsely, his friends thinking that he might actually cry, and how scary that might be. Crying was for skinned knees, not emotional breakdowns. “Everything in my life is getting so fucked up. You want to know something crazy? I made my sisters’ lunch like an hour ago, and you know what they were doing? Smoking. They’re eleven years old and they smoke cigarettes, and apparently my mom is totally fine with it. They don’t have to do anything but sit around and watch TV, and I have to do everything. Plus, my mom doesn’t work, and she’s never home. Even when she’s there, she’s on the phone all the time, just totally forgetting the fact that she has these three kids she’s supposed to take care of. Plus, she’s fucked up all the time. And not like when one of you guys’ dads has too many beers or whatever. I mean she gets really fucked up, like, pisses her pants or throws up on herself.”
There was a long moment when none of them talked or looked at each other. The sounds of the forest trickled into the fort, and then a lawn mower started up somewhere.
Finally Scott said, “That sucks, man. Seriously. But if it helps at all, no one has a perfect life. At least you see your dad a few times a year. I never
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