“Yeah,” I said, not really affirming anything at all, but feeling the need to agree.
“Yeah,” he said it back.
I turned into the airport complex and made sure I was in the right lane. It’s not a big airport by any means, but it’s laid out in such a way that it’s easy to wind up driving someplace you didn’t intend.
“Wait a minute. ” I stopped myself before pulling into the airport’s parking lot. “We can’t put you on a plane, can we?”
“Why not? I don’t have any scissors, or anything…. ” He patted at his pants pockets.
“And I bet you don’t have an ID, either—at least not anything that won’t have you arrested as soon as you fork it over. ”
“Oh. Um. No. I don’t. You’re probably right. I guess I’ll just have to stay here for a few days, huh?”
“Fat chance, buster. The Greyhound station is right over there. And it’ll be cheaper, anyway. ”
Neither one of us spoke while I wound my way into the parking lot across from the airport runway. I took the car out of gear and removed my keys, but did not open the door. I closed my eyes and put my head back, leaning it against the seat.
I think Malachi was sucking in his breath and holding it in his throat. I only noticed him doing it because it’s something I do when I’m nervous. This small thing we had in common made me hold my words for a few seconds. It made me reluctant to be too mean.
“It goes like this,” I finally told him. “First of all, I’m sorry I didn’t answer the phone more often, and I’m sorry I didn’t at least hear you out before ignoring you. But that doesn’t change the fact that you shouldn’t be here—for a million and one reasons that I trust I don’t have to elaborate upon. Also, you shouldn’t have come up here alone. You should have at least come with Harry. ”
“Harry said no when I asked if he’d come here with me. He said I should leave you alone and stay out of state a while longer. ”
“Yes, he’s a sharp guy. I know you want to know about Pine Breeze and whether the presence there was your mom; so I understand your impatience, but it was still a terrible idea for you to venture this way by yourself. ”
“But Harry—”
“I heard you. Let me talk to him and see if I can change his mind. I bet I can. Give me maybe a week—can you do that?” I lifted my head and swiveled it to look him in the eye. “But not today. Not tomorrow. Lu and Dave will be back tomorrow night, and I just can’t deal with that much lying in a forty-eight-hour period. I’m already working on a story about the car—”
“A deer,” he interjected. “You can say you swerved to avoid hitting a deer. ”
“I’m more likely to tell them a skunk. ” I used enough droll overtone to imply a bad joke, but he missed the punch line altogether and I was sort of glad. I had felt dumb for it as soon as I said it. Going after his feelings with a rusty steak knife wasn’t going to get anyone anywhere.
“A skunk would work, yeah. No one wants to hit a skunk. You’d never get the smell off the hood. ”
“Right. A skunk, then. But I’m not going to throw you into the mix too. Give me a week or two to work on Harry, and then I can tell them that he’s coming up and I’ll be getting together with him. I can even, if I have to, arrange for him to meet them for coffee or something. It’s far less conspicuously dishonest, and therefore more likely to work. ”
He dropped his jaw and arranged some objecting syllables to launch from it, but I stopped him before he got going good. “And between now and then, I will make a point of going out to the hill where Pine Breeze used to be. I’ll poke around and see if anything turns up. And if anyone or anything makes itself known, you’ll be the first one I inform. ”
Malachi sagged in the seat. “I was really hoping we could do it tonight. ”
“Well, we can’t. And we’re not. I believe you when you said you couldn’t find it, because God knows that even when it was standing it was a pain to locate unless you knew exactly where it was. And at night? There’s nothing anywhere around there, Malachi. No streetlamps. No stores. No people, except those who live farther on down the hill—and they would probably call the cops if they saw headlights going that way at this hour. ”
“So you’re making me leave. ”
“Yes, I’m making you leave. But I’m also telling you that I’m open to the idea of you coming back. And I’m making you a series of promises that go contrary to all common sense. I promise you this: I’ll answer the phone when you call, assuming you don’t abuse the privilege. I promise I’ll go up to the hill and look for your mother. I promise I’ll talk to Harry and see if he won’t bring you up here for a fact-finding mission sometime soon. But at the same time, I am most definitely making you leave before you get either one of us into any more trouble. ”
He sulked hard, but I stood firm.
“I don’t have any more money. ”
“I will buy you a bus ticket. ”
“Now?”
“Yes. Right now. Get out. You didn’t bring any stuff, did you?”
“No. Just an overnight bag, and I think I lost it in the river when I fell in and got bitten by the snake. ”