Nana Pete rubs the animal’s throat. “She has to go to work for a while. She’ll be back in the morning.”
“Work?” Honey repeats. “She’s going to work? Now?”
Nana Pete puts her finger against her lips. “Shh … don’t let her hear you. She’ll feel bad. She wanted to call off, but I told her not to. She’s been at King’s for quite some time now. She works very hard. They depend on her. She has to go in.”
Honey’s face gets dark, like a storm cloud passing over the sun. Then she plops down heavily on a battered rocking chair in the corner and stares out the window.
“Are you all right?” I ask.
She nods but doesn’t take her eyes off the window.
“It’s late,” Nana Pete says. “Come on, everyone, time for bed.” She kisses each of us and holds Benny close for a long time, stroking his hair. Then she walks up the stairs and closes the door.
Lillian has instructed Nana Pete to sleep in the only bedroom, which is on the second floor, so Benny, Honey, and I are sprawled out downstairs on the living room floor, on top of a stack of blankets. I’m a little spooked sleeping in this weird woman’s house, even if she is my father’s sister, and so I start my litany of evening prayers to help take the edge off. After a bit, Honey throws her blankets off and stands up.
“Hey,” I whisper, leaning up on one elbow. “Where’re you going?”
Honey whirls around. “To the kitchen, okay? I need something to drink.” Her tone prevents me from asking anything more—or from following her after more than forty minutes pass and she doesn’t reappear. I’m not sure what’s bothering her. All of a sudden, for some reason, it seems like she’s shutting down the way Benny has. Could she possibly be having second thoughts about everything?
I wonder what Mom and Dad are doing now. It’s our third night away from them. Have they left Mount Blessing to come look for us? Has Dad tried to call Nana Pete? Will he be even angrier when he finds out that Lillian is in on this, too? And what will Emmanuel do when he finds out? Will we ever be allowed back inside Mount Blessing?
In the dark, I can hear Benny’s hand rustle under the blankets as he reaches over for me. I slide my hand over his and hold it tightly.
…
Hours later, I am awakened suddenly by what sounds like a strangled sob. I sit up straight in the dark and listen, my body white-hot with fear.
“Oh God, please!” It’s coming from upstairs. “Nana Pete! Get up! Please!” Throwing back the blankets, I race up the steps on the other side of the room. The scene inside Lillian’s bedroom has the look and feel of a dream. A tiny, pear-shaped lamp next to the bed casts an eerie wedge of yellow over the room. In the bed, Nana Pete is lying flat on her back, her mouth open in a distorted O shape. Honey is straddling her, shaking her shoulders with both hands. “Get up!” she sobs again. “Please God, get up!”
“What are you doing?” I scream. “Get off of her! You’ll kill her!”
Honey turns around, and in the partial light of the room, her face has acquired an ethereal, almost transparent look. Tears are streaming down her cheeks. “It’s too late,” she whispers. “She’s gone.”
PART III
HONEY
I get a weird feeling in the center of my chest when I see Mr. Pibbs, as if a curtain hanging over my life is about to be pulled wide open. It feels like Jell-O, nothing I can really stand on firmly or trust, and yet … it’s there. It’s real. Something is about to happen. I know it is.
My initial aggravation at Lillian leaving for her shift at King’s disappears after Nana Pete tells me she’s working so hard, that people are depending on her. She must have a really important job. The place is called King’s—it sure sounds important. Maybe she is in charge of a lot of people, a boss of some kind. She left the house in a pressed white shirt and black slacks—pretty professional looking. I wonder if she is a nice boss or a mean boss. Would she order people around? Get mad if they come in late? Throw things at them? Curse? Or would she sit down and listen to what they had to say? Give them another chance?