“I will,” I said. “Right now, we have a big problem with my mother. There’s a psychiatric nurse here taking care of her. I have to go back upstairs to see what she needs.”
“Where’s your father?” Detective Simpson asked.
“He had some work-related things to do. I’ll tell him you were here. He should be home very soon.”
Neither policeman spoke. Lieutenant Cowan reached for the doorknob.
Just before they stepped out, Detective Simpson turned back to me. “You left that name off the list,” he said.
“What name?”
“Matt Tesler.”
“Oh. He doesn’t live here anymore.”
“Where did he go?”
“I don’t know. He wasn’t the love of my life or anything. I guess the school can tell you about him and his family, but I don’t see how it helps us now.”
He nodded and closed the door behind him. I stood there fuming. That wicked little nobody, Sarah Morgan. She never liked me. She’d want to cause trouble. I’ll fix her, I thought. I’ll tell whoever calls me all about her, how she almost sent the police on a wild goose chase while my sister suffers.
I turned and hurried back up the stairs, thinking and planning with every step I took. I thought I would tell Mother and Mrs. Lofter that the police were just here to tell us how hard they were working to find Kaylee. I’d sound as hopeful and optimistic as I could. Mrs. Lofter would like that. Later, with Mother not around, I would show her how devastated I felt. I smiled, thinking maybe Mrs. Lofter would start brushing my hair, too, not that I’d want her to. She’d never do it right.
The moment I walked in, they looked at me, but before I could get a word out, Mother spoke and shocked me.
“Kaylee,” she said. “Thank God, you’re home.”
10
Kaylee
I heard what sounded like more than one person going up and down the stairs just outside the locked basement apartment door. Then I heard the key turning in the lock and sat up, hoping it was my rescuers.
I had fallen asleep and dreamed vividly about this. In my dream, my sister, Haylee, had broken down in front of Daddy and Mother and confessed all she had done to get me into this situation. She had thought she could handle any guilt she might experience, but my empty room, my books unopened on my desk, and me not being in my chair at breakfast and dinner had torn away her shield of indifference and left her crying so hysterically that our doctor had to give her something to calm her. She’d been shaking like someone who was freezing.
It was then that she had told the police exactly where to go. I envisioned them capturing Anthony right outside this house and then hurrying down the stairs to find me. There was even an ambulance waiting in case it was needed, and of course, Mother and Daddy were right there, waiting just outside. Haylee was in the rear of a police car, looking ashamed.
The door opened. I held my breath. Was my dream a premonition?
There was someone there, but it wasn’t anyone who’d come to rescue me; it was Anthony, wearing a broad smile on his face when he looked at me, or I should say right through me, for he didn’t see a look of disappointment. He saw the girl of his dreams overjoyed at his homecoming. I thought that even if my disappointment and my fear stopped my heart from beating, he would keep me in a chair or on the bed, talking to me as if nothing unusual had occurred. I wondered which need was stronger, his need to have someone to love who would love him or my need to escape and go home. Which would win out in the end?
In a strange and eerie way, he reminded me of Mo
ther. No matter what Daddy said, what our grandparents said, or what our teachers and other people told her, she refused to see Haylee and me as two separate girls. She either ignored or explained away any differences we exhibited. She planned our lives as if one of us was the shadow of the other. When we were very young, neither Haylee nor I knew how to oppose her. I never denied that we needed to be our own persons, but I was never as defiant and determined as Haylee was when we’d grown older and should have been bolder. Was that wrong? Did she hate me for being so tolerant? Did that make things harder for her? Was this her way of getting revenge?
Anthony hugged large catalogues. He put them on the dining table and then returned to the doorway to pick up the bags of groceries he had brought as well. There had been no sirens. There were no policemen behind him. No one had found me. I felt like I was sinking into the bed. My rescue had been only a dream, wishful thinking.
“Got you your homework,” he said, nodding at the catalogues as he brought the groceries to the counter by the sink. I hadn’t moved. He started to unpack. He looked back at me, surprised. “Go on. Don’t wait for me. Give it a look-see. I know you can’t wait. If there’s one thing women love to do, it’s buying things to dress up a home. My father kept my mother on a leash, but I ain’t him.”
He waited to see my reaction. I’d better look and act enthusiastic, I thought, and rose quickly to go to the table. There were three thick catalogues of carpets with samples and two catalogues of curtains. I remembered when Mother was redoing the living room and Haylee and I had sat at the table with her as she examined the possibilities. I recalled some of the reasons she had preferred one type over another. At least I knew what to say so it would look like I really was interested.
“You can’t claim you ain’t got enough choice there,” he said. “So,” he said, rubbing his hands together. “What’ll we have for lunch? You want turkey and cheese? I’ve got these delicious rolls.” He held one up. It looked soft, the kind both Haylee and I enjoyed. My stomach actually churned in anticipation.
“Yes, thank you,” I said.
“You don’t thank me. I thank you,” he said, smiling. “You’re making me feel alive. I ain’t felt as alive since . . . since I don’t know when.” He laughed. “Maybe I never did. Star-crossed lovers really complete each other, you know. That’s what we are, two people who found each other in space, only it’s called cyberspace, right?” I could see he thought that was clever. He waited for my reaction.
“Right,” I said, with as much of a smile as I could force.