Twisted Reason (34 page)

“He did not!”

“Yes he did, Charley.”

“Well, just wait till I see him again. What are we doing today, Lucy?”

“I thought it was about time my two best friends met each other.”

“You can’t have two best friends, Lucy.”

“Oh yes you can if one of them is a girl and the other is a boy,” Lucinda said, making that rule up on the spot.

“You can do that?”

“You sure can,” Lucinda assured her.

“So you got a boyfriend?”

“Let’s just say I have a friend who is a boy.”

“Do you kiss and stuff?”

Lucinda certainly didn’t want to get anywhere near a discussion about sex with someone else’s prepubescent child. She changed the subject. “Jake is an FBI agent.”

“Really?”

“Yes. His official title is Special Agent in Charge.”

“Wow! That’s a long title. I’ll call him Jake.”

“I’m sure he’d like that.”

Lucinda pulled into a space at Riverside Park. “I told Jake we’d meet him by the ice-cream stand.”

“Can we get ice cream?”

“Of course.”

Charley raced out of the car, straight to the stand and stopped in front of the only man there. “Are you Jake?”

“Yes, I am.”

“I like your shoes,” she said noticing his turquoise Chucks.

“Thanks.”

“Is it part of your Special Agent uniform?”

“Not hardly.”

“Are they Special Agent in Charge shoes?”

“Nah, I just like them.”

Lucinda said, “Charley, do you know what flavor you want?”

“I haven’t looked yet.”

“Go pick one out. As soon as you decide, I’ll place the order.”

Charley raced over to the display cases and peered down at the tubs, moving sideways across as she studied the contents.

“I’m not sure I know what to talk about with a young girl,” Jake said.

“Ask her about the news – what she likes to watch, what she reads,” Lucinda suggested.

“The news? She’s just a little kid.”

“Trust me.”

After they sat at a picnic bench to eat their ice-cream cones, Jake said, “Charley, Lucinda tells me you like to follow the news.”

“Of course I do. Don’t you?”

“Yes, I do. Of course. Do you get your news on TV, in the newspaper . . .?”

“I like to get it from a bunch of places. Daddy says that way I can get the full picture. So I read the newspaper everyday and I read
Newsweek
each Tuesday. Daddy said I could get a subscription to
Time
, too, for my birthday. I only read that once in a while now when I can talk somebody into buying me a copy. Would you buy me a copy, today?”

“Sure,” Jake chuckled. “How about TV news? What do you like to watch?”

“I watch the local news and the network news every night unless I have too much homework. But my favorite is Rick Sanchez on CNN. He’s really cute and funny. I like
Las Fotos
,” she said deepening her voice and mimicking Sanchez’s accent. “And Rick does good with the regular news and he tweets, too. I want an iPhone but Daddy says I’m not old enough. But I can only watch Rick’s whole show during the summer break. And sometimes, he’s on vacation then. I wrote to him and gave him my schedule so that he’ll work then when I can watch.”

“You sound like a very-well rounded and very busy person, Charley.”

“I have to be, Jake. I want to be a police when I grow up. I want to help some little girl someday just like Lucy helped me.”

Lucinda blinked and swallowed hard. She didn’t want to cry in front of both of them.

“Jake, I need to talk to you about something serious,” Charley said. “I mean, I know the news is serious. But this is personal serious.”

“What’s that?”

“Lucy says that you are her best friend that’s a boy.”

“I try to be, Charley.”

“Well, I’m her best friend that’s a girl. And I think I’ve been her best friend longer than you have.”

“I think that’s right.”

“Okay. That makes me the boss friend. And I expect you to be good to her – all the time, even when you’re in a bad mood. Promise?”

He looked over Charley’s head and straight at Lucinda. “I promise,” he said, using his index finger to make an X over his heart.

“Hope to die?” Charley asked.

Lucinda watched his eyes soften and grow moist as he scanned her face. “I promise. And if I ever break that promise, I hope to die.”