“On the corner of Main and Third.”
“You’re about a block from my place. Stay there and I’ll come find you.”
I ended the call before she could say anything else, flinging the phone into the center of the bed as I jumped up and pulled on a pair of jeans discarded on the floor of my bedroom and a t-shirt that was sticking out of a drawer in my dresser. I dragged my fingers through my hair, slipped on my tennis shoes, grabbed my phone, and headed out. I found her car pretty easily. It was the only one idling on the side of the road at this hour of the night.
I tapped on the window and she immediately released the locks, leaning over to open the door.
“I didn’t know what else to do,” she said as I climbed in, folding my long legs into the tight confines of her little Ford. “He was so upset. I thought he’d come back after a while, but when he didn’t—“
“Slow down and start at the beginning,” I said, laying my hand over hers where it sat on the steering wheel. “Why was he upset?”
“The coach kicked him off the team because he was still wearing his jersey when he was arrested.”
I nodded even as something inside my stomach sank like a stone in the river. Football was everything to JT. Even just observing him in my English class I could see that. To lose his spot on the team must have been devastating.
“Have you tried his friends? Called their parents?”
She nodded. “I’ve tried everyone. And I’ve been driving around for hours, trying to spot him on the street. I even drove to the neighboring towns, thinking he might have walked to one of them, just to worry me. But I can’t find him.”
Panic was creeping into her voice once again. I picked up her hand and pulled it into my lap, pressing it against my thigh to try to calm her with the pressure of my touch. She wouldn’t look at me. And her chin trembled like Libby’s often did right before she began to sob. I really didn’t want her to start crying. But I was at a loss for what to do to stop it.
“What about this Sean kid? Wasn’t he at his house on Friday night?”
“They’re best friends. But I already called over there and his mom insists JT’s not there.”
“Are you sure she would know if he was?”
Penelope hesitated before she answered. “She’s a single mom who works three jobs. I think she was on her way to her nurse’s aide job when I called her.”
“So Sean’s home alone?”
She nodded as she tugged her hand from my grip and put the car into gear. We were pulling to the curb in front of a duplex moments later. She pointed to one whose windows were ablaze with light.
“That’s Sean’s house.”
“Is there anyone living on the other side?”
She shook her head. “Not right now.”
I got out of the car and went up to the front of the building, peering through the sheer curtains on the front windows. I could see two heads hunched down on a cheap couch and the violent scene of a video game playing out on the television screen. One of the heads was blond, the other dark. If I had to guess, I would have said with ninety percent certainty that the dark head was JT, but I wanted to be sure.
I pounded on the front door and watched as the two boys jumped up off the couch, the light suddenly going out even though the television still flickered, illuminating the room as one boy ran to the back of the house and the other stood uncertainly in the living room.
“I know you’re in there, JT. Come out and tell your sister you’re still alive and well.”
Still the boy in the living room hesitated. Then he turned and I watched as a whispered argument took place between the two kids. Then, slowly, the second figure returned to the living room and approached the front door.
JT yanked over the door and stared at me like he had expected someone totally different.
“Mr. James?”
“Do you know how worried your sister’s been about you?” I asked, grabbing his arm and pulling him out the door before he had a chance to turn and disappear back inside. “She’s been searching all over town for you for hours.”
The boy was respectful enough to look a little shamed. He stared at the ground for a minute before his gaze shot out past me to the car sitting at the curb. He pulled free of my touch and walked out there, falling into Penelope’s embrace where she stood waiting against the front fender.
I stayed where I was, trying to give them a little space. I could hear a few words: sorry…didn’t mean it…I understand…
I was curious what else happened between them today. I understood that JT was hurt by what the coach had done and that he would blame Penelope, especially if he knew that she was the one who notified the school. But it seemed like there was more to it. Once again, I watched them standing together, saw the deep affection that existed between them, and wondered how much damage my presence in this town was already doing to their relationship, to my son’s peace of mind.