“Dad?” Ned called out, watching the man in the driveway.
The man leaned in and whispered, “My name is Stanley, Stanley Woermer. We have to talk.” He looked quickly back at Ned again, lingering a little too long for Wallis’ comfort, and turned, taking a quick jog up the driveway, turning right at the end and disappearing from view, hidden by the tall bushes that grew at the edge of the driveway. Wallis noticed the expensive running shoes and the easy, loping way he had taken the long hill that led from the house to the street, keeping his posture erect.
“Have to get Laurel to check this one out,” she said quietly.
Norman came out of the door wiping his hands on a kitchen towel.
“Everything alright?” he said, looking at the expressions on Ned and Wallis’ faces.
“Everything’s fine, dear,” said Wallis, letting out a long breath. She realized she’d been clutching her keys in her hand. “Just a desperate move by a desperate client. He’s gone, come on Ned. Do you need some help?” said Wallis, trying to smile at Ned and let him know it was all okay. She put the box down on her trunk and quickly bent down, picked up the piece of fallen paper and folded it, sliding it into her skirt pocket.
Norman and Ned came out of the door carrying a school project almost as big as Ned made out of Styrofoam and painted gun-metal gray with coiled arms and wooden legs. It had a pair of race cars for feet. Wallis raised her eyebrows, relaxing a little. Being around Ned had a way of making her do that.
“It’s an alien. Mrs. Ward asked us to do it.”
“It’s scientific?”
“I don’t know. We had to include motion somehow.”
“Hence the cars.”
“They’re remote control cars. I can make the robot move and there’s a giant spring on the inside so it’ll bounce some while it goes.”
“Very clever. What are you studying in science right now? Energy and motion?”
“Weather patterns.”
“Really?” asked Wallis.
“You’re way too easy, Mom.”
Norman gave a small smile. “I’m going back inside if you people no longer need a man around.” Wallis smiled a little, and made a face at him.
“So, where’s the fun in it?” she said to Ned.
“I can’t always resist.”
Wallis carefully put the alien in a seat of his own next to Ned, gently pulling the seat belt around the middle and started driving in the direction of the school. Ned could take the bus but Wallis liked having the few minutes alone with him every morning and it was the one place Ned was most likely to tell her about how he was really doing. It didn’t happen often, but Wallis was always hopeful.
“Why don’t I have red hair like you?” asked Ned.
“Because you’re too young to dye your hair,” said Wallis, glancing at Ned’s face in her rearview mirror.
“And besides, the box clearly says this is auburn.”
Ned smiled and Wallis felt her stomach jump a little at the small unexpected gift so early in the morning. Strange morning, she thought.
As she pulled her older blue Jaguar into the long circular driveway in front of the school she saw children getting off of the bus in the side-by-side matching curved driveways. Some of them were holding similar concoctions as Ned’s but everyone else’s was no more than a foot tall. Wallis looked back at Ned’s project.
“Were there any instructions on size?”
“No, not really.”
“What does that mean? She gave hints?”
“She gave suggestions and I decided to do this,” he said, gesturing toward the project.
Wallis let out a sigh. “Do you need help carrying it in?”
“No, I’ve got it. Thanks, Mom,” said Ned, leaning forward to get a kiss. “See you later. Love you.”
“Love you more,” she replied, another of their games.
“Nah ah,” he answered, without looking back.
“Yah, hah,” she said, and waited for Ned to walk around and get his science project out of the car.
“I love you times infinity,” he said, once he had the project out, and quickly tapped her on the shoulder before closing the door. She could barely hear the muffled ‘got you last’ before he turned and walked away. Good one, she thought, and drove off, headed for work.
She came down Quioccasin Road and turned the corner back on to Pump to head toward the office. The route took her near her house. That’s how Wallis spent a lot of her days, crisscrossing the same paths. It made her wonder sometimes what she was accomplishing.
As she neared her corner she saw the neighbor’s dog, Happy, sitting quietly with her leash still attached, hanging down beside her. Wallis thought about forgetting what she saw and going on to work but she knew if something happened to the Labrador the guilt would kill her. She pulled up to the corner and leaned across the seat to push open the passenger side door.