Fort Lupton (33 page)

For a moment, her sorrow transformed into
pure raw panic. She dropped her head to her knees to try to
breathe.

She’d wanted to be a ballerina all of her
life. She’d worked and worked and worked to make her body into that
of a ballerina.

And this was her chance.

“
Hey,” a girl’s voice
said. Sissy felt a tap on her shoulder. Sissy looked up. “You don’t
want to be late.”

Sissy nodded and got up. She locked her
locker and left the locker room with the other girl.

“
Ramona,” the girl
said.

“
Sissy,” she
said.

The girls walked down the hall toward the
classroom.

“
Nice to meet you,” Sissy
added.

“
You too,” Ramona said.
“Don’t be intimidated. We have this new teacher who’s really mean.
He had a fit last week because our feet are so messed up. Most of
the girls were mad, but I just figure that it can’t hurt to take
care of your feet.”

“
They’re your career,”
Sissy repeated what Ivan always said.

Ramona nodded. They continued down the
hallway.

“
How old are you?” Ramona
asked when they turned the corner.

“
I just turned fourteen,”
Sissy said.

“
Fifteen,” Ramona said.
“You’re not in the dorm.”

“
I’m staying with a family
friend until I get settled,” Sissy said.

“
Nice,” Ramona
said.

Taller, Sissy opened the door for Ramona and
followed her into the room. The girls were standing along the bar
at the back. The teacher hadn’t arrived yet. Having left her
belongings in the locker room, Sissy slipped off her clogs and went
to the bar. Ramona stood behind her.

They waited and watched the clock. The class
was supposed to start at 10:10 a.m. The girls shifted
uncomfortably, and Sissy cleared her throat. She was about to say
something when the door moved a little bit.

“
Here he comes,” the
oldest girl said. “Get ready.”

Ivan walked into the room. Sissy almost
cheered out loud. He shot her a fierce “shut-up” scowl.

“
Time to dance,” Ivan
said.

~~~~~~~~

Monday morning — 8:35 a.m.

Phoenix, Arizona

“
Hello, gorgeous,” Yvonne
purred into her cell phone and then listened to Rodney’s breath
catch.

Dionne stepped away so that Yvonne could
have some privacy. After a moment, Rodney chuckled.

“
You always do that,” he
said.

“
I do,” she said brightly.
“Nice to know I still have the touch.”

“
Yes,” Rodney
said.

She expected him to say more but he
didn’t.

“
You called me,” Yvonne
said.

“
Oh, yes,” Rodney cleared
his throat, “I did.”

A police cruiser with its siren blaring
rolled past Yvonne.

“
Is that for you?” Rodney
asked.

“
I don’t think so,” Yvonne
said.

“
Where are you?” Rodney
asked.

“
We’re standing outside
the FBI headquarters hoping to catch the agent,” Yvonne said. “We
tried her house, but she’s out running.”

“
Why are you standing
there?” There was the muffled scraping sound of Rodney rubbing his
head, which he did when he was confused.

“
We want to remind her
that we’re going to stay here until she does her job,” Yvonne said
with a sniff.

Rodney chuckled.

“
Don’t you laugh, Mr.
Smith,” Yvonne said.

“
I just cannot imagine you
letting go of anything, let alone this,” Rodney said.

“
I know!” Yvonne said.
“Imagine someone thinking that of me. Insulting, that’s what that
is.”

Rodney burst out laughing, and she
smiled.

“
How’s my baby, Jabari?”
Yvonne asked.

“
He’s at the Marlowe
School,” Rodney said. “He seemed happy to go there. He found
someone he’d played with before and forgot all about me. He is very
adaptable, that boy.”

“
Amazing, isn’t it?”
Yvonne asked.

“
He is,” Rodney
said.

“
Any word on Fin or Jake?”
Yvonne asked.

“
Nothing,” Rodney said.
“Not a word. Tanesha said they expected to hear or
feel
something.”

“
And?”

“
Nothing,” Rodney said.
“They are pretty worried.”

“
I am too,” Yvonne
said.

“
I’m sure...” Rodney
started.

“
Oh, I have to go, there’s
the agent,” Yvonne said and hung up the phone.

Agent Angela Muniz’s running shorts and
exercise top were wet with sweat. Her ears were plugged with
headphones. Yvonne and Dionne jogged down the steps to her. She was
walking back and forth to cool off.

“
I thought you’d left,”
Agent Muniz said between puffs of breath.

“
We’re going to be here
until you
do
something,” Yvonne said.

Agent Muniz scowled at Yvonne and paced back
and forth before stopping in front of them.

“
Ready to get to work?”
Agent Muniz asked.

“
Us?” Dionne
asked.

“
Sure, why not?” the agent
asked. “You’re here. You’re going to be a pain in the ass, so why
not put you to work?”

“
Doing what?” Yvonne
asked.

“
Phone calls,” Agent Muniz
said. “You call all those people you told me about.”

“
Okay,” Yvonne raised her
cell phone. “What are the numbers?”

Agent Muniz looked at Yvonne for a moment
before she laughed.

“
Just like that?” Agent
Muniz asked. “You’re ready to go?”

“
We’ve had some years to
get ready,” Dionne said.

Agent Muniz gave a slow nod.

“
Then let’s get this
done,” Agent Muniz said. The agent ran up the stairs to the
building. At the door she yelled, “Coming?”

Yvonne and Dionne ran up the steps. They
followed Agent Muniz into the building.

Absence

Monday morning — 8:45 a.m.
Denver, Colorado

Jeraine opened his laptop at the dining room
table to read his email. They had gone for a grueling long run,
stuffed down breakfast, and now Tanesha was finishing getting
ready. She had a lab class this afternoon, so school started a
little later today. But since Fin disappeared, she was going to
school for both of them. She had to be there early enough to get
the results of Fin’s last exam. Jeraine was turning on his computer
when Tanesha’s feet pounded down the wood stairs from their
bedroom.

“
When’s Jake going to
. . .” Tanesha started.

The rest of her sentence was garbled by the
kitchen wall between them. Her voice continued with the addition of
her banging around in the kitchen cabinets.

Trying to decide if he should go in there,
he stared out the window. If he went into the kitchen, he would
know what she was saying, but given the velocity of cabinet opening
and closing, she was likely to yell at him. If he stayed here,
she’d probably yell at him anyway. He squinted his eyes to try to
decide if it was worth the risk.

“
What do you see?” Tanesha
leaned over to look out the window.

He jumped with surprise. She tipped her head
back and laughed. Still laughing, she went back into the kitchen.
He heard her root around in the kitchen drawers. For the first
time, he realized she was looking for something, and that he might
be able to help. He went into the kitchen.

“
What are you looking
for?” Jeraine asked.

“
My tea,” Tanesha said.
“You haven’t seen it, have you?”

Jeraine shook his head with such
determination that she laughed again.

“
I value my life,” Jeraine
said.

“
Oh?” Tanesha said before
walking into the pantry.

“
I never touch your tea,”
Jeraine yelled so she could hear him.

She poked her head out of the pantry.

“
Except when you get more,
right?” Tanesha asked.

“
That’s right,” Jeraine
said.

“
Did you get more?”
Tanesha asked.

“
Was s’posed to?” Jeraine
asked.

Tanesha groaned, and he laughed. She gave
him a “you’re an ass” roll of her eyes. She grabbed her lunch and
stuffed it into her backpack.

“
I like to have a cup of
tea before lab,” Tanesha said.

She grabbed a water bottle and held it to
their water filter.

“
There are all these rich
white kids,” Tanesha said. “Well I don’t know if they’re rich. They
look rich — nice hair and . . .”

“
They freak you out,”
Jeraine said.

“
They freak me out,”
Tanesha said. “I was okay when Fin was there — you know, power in
numbers — but now . . .”

“
And it doesn’t matter
that you’re married to the Hottest Guy in R&B?” Jeraine
asked.

Tanesha glanced at him and shook her
head.

“
You won?” she
asked.

“
I won,” Jeraine
said.

“
Does it come with another
phallic statue?” Tanesha asked.

“
They’re coming here to
take an impression of my penis,” Jeraine said.

Tanesha stopped moving and looked at
him.

“
Really?” Tanesha
asked.

“
No,” Jeraine
said.

They laughed.

“
I figured they’d need it
for the museum,” Tanesha said. She went to the coat rack and
started pulling on a sweater.

“
Museum?”

“
Tiny Dick Museum,” she
said. Her head poked through the sweater and she fought to get her
arms in the holes.

“
As opposed to the Largest
Asshole Museum?” he laughed.

“
Are you in that one too?”
she laughed.

“
I think so.”

“
Can you get me more tea?”
Tanesha asked. She winced. “I know it’s a lot to ask, but could you
bring it to school?”

“
I’d love to get you more
tea, but we get it from your mom,” Jeraine said.

“
She’s in Arizona,”
Tanesha said. She grabbed her Delphie-made, long-as-hell scarf. “No
back up?”

“
Abi?” Jeraine
asked.

“
Can you ask Crazy Aunt
Phy?” Tanesha asked. “You know she’s a . . .”

“
No, I will not,” Jeraine
said. “I mean, I know she’s a fairy and all, but the last time we
got tea from her, she decided to change the mix. You didn’t like
it.”

“
Oh yeah,” Tanesha nodded.
“That was bad.”

“
You’re telling me,”
Jeraine said. “We’re trying to finish this custody business. If I
get tea from Aunt Phy . . .”

“
I’m likely to go crazy.”
Tanesha nodded.

“
I was going to say ‘grow
a horn,’” Jeraine gestured off his forehead.

Tanesha laughed. He grabbed her jacket and
held it for her. When she turned around, he kissed her ear.

“
You’re going to have to
do without,” he said.

He patted her shoulders when she had the
jacket on.

“
Shit,” Tanesha said.
“What am I going to do in lab?”

“
Your best friends are
white,” Jeraine said. “Why do you care?”

“
I just . . .”
Tanesha started. She shook her head. “You wouldn’t
understand.”

“
It’s hard,” Jeraine said.
“When you stretch out and try new things, it’s hard. You could
always quit school and go back to waiting tables.”

“
I have to
. . .”

“
Exactly,” he said. “I
know how you feel. I feel that way a lot, especially when I’m
trying new things.”

“
Which is all the time
now,” Tanesha said.

Tanesha nodded. She gave him a peck on his
lips and headed toward the back door.

“
I could just make a naked
calendar and we’d be . . .” Jeraine yelled after
her.

Laughing, Tanesha waved at him. She went out
the door. He listed for her to start his Dodge Dart. He locked the
door and returned to the table. He was an hour into dealing with
his email before he remembered that Tanesha needed her tea for
something specific.

He couldn’t remember what.

Shrugging, he wrote himself a note to ask
her why she needed her tea. Whatever it was, it would have to wait
until her mother came back.

~~~~~~~~

Monday morning — 10:25 a.m.

“
Who are you?” Charlie
said to the young man sitting by his bed at Seth’s home.

“
Me?” The young man
pointed to himself with a bony finger. He had a mess of brown hair,
big green eyes, and long gangly limbs.

“
Is someone else here?”
Charlie asked.

“
No, why?” the young man
asked.

Charlie grinned, and the young man
scowled.

“
Did I say something
funny?” The young man blew into the palm of his hand. “My breath’s
okay. I brushed my teeth this morning.”