Locke 2 (Blackwater Boys #4)

Nine

Kali

T he emergency contact on Lenny’s forms was his Aunt Linda, the one that had frantically reported him missing. On Wednesday, the same day I’d spoken to the neighbour, I called Linda’s number, but she never picked up. In my temptation, I couldn’t help but leave a message: “Hello, my name is Kal—” I cleared my throat. “Kari. I was Lenny’s TA. I’m reaching out because I…have some of his artworks that I think you might want, or maybe want to hold onto for his mom…”

I had botched it.

In my nerves, I’d almost said my real name.

And in my haste, I gave her my number and hung up. It was the next day, and she hadn’t called. And Aurora stood next to me, shaking her head. “You screwed up, sis.”

“I know,” I said, frustrated. “I got stressed out.”

Thinking about Lenny made me think about Aurora, and I…I just couldn’t let this go. It just didn’t sit right.

“You could get help,” she said just then.

I closed my eyes tightly. “How many times have I said I won’t do that?”

“Then why do you keep thinking about it?”

Not cool, Aurora.

Now I was taking recess duty, but my eyes followed the boys Lenny played with. I could get some answers out of them. Like if Lenny was acting off the day he “moved.” I kept my sights on Dallis, the boy I saw when I spoke to the neighbour. He was a blond kid in grade 2 and, maybe it was in my head, but he appeared more subdued than usual. I got closer to him, watching as he dragged a stick along the fence of the playground, staring down at his boots. I didn’t want to just spring up on him and ask him a bunch of questions.

This had to look natural.

It started out with small talk. A “nice shoes” compliment one day that made him look down at his beaten-up runners with a confused look on his face. That day I also told him to high five me for getting into line when the bell rang. He gave me a lazy one, but it was one, nonetheless.

The next day, I offered him (and a bunch of other kids so it wouldn’t look suspicious) a bag of celery sticks. Free food, right? Lenny would have downed that shit in a heartbeat. These little shits, on the other hand, looked at me like I was offering them poison.

“That wasn’t cheap,” I growled at Aurora.

“Did I ever eat celery?” she returned, dubiously.

Well, Dallis took the bag and sat down. I was excited for a minute, until I crept closer and saw him using the celery sticks as dirt monuments. He had stuck three into the dirt when I forced a chuckle within earshot. “That’s one way to put celery to use.”

Dallis looked up at me and squinted his eyes, like he was trying to recognize me. Even though I’d just given him the bag. Even though I’d complimented his shoes just yesterday. Even though I spoke to his damn mom in front of him. He nodded slowly, like I was the dumb one and looked back at his celery sticks.

I crouched down at his level, taking a closer look at his work. “I got a good celery joke. You want to hear it?”

He shrugged, and I glanced down at my watch. I had like seven minutes left and I was literally getting nowhere. “What did the lettuce say to the celery?”

“What?” he asked.

“Lettuce in.” I chuckled at that because it was a funny joke. But Dallis and Aurora weren’t laughing. Probably because it was more of a lettuce joke than celery. I cleared my throat. “I got more if you want?”

“What do you want?” he suddenly asked.

My smile fell. “What?”

“Ever since you talked to my mom, you keep coming to me. You never come to me.”

“Um…” I was startled for a moment. Were second graders this perceptive? Or was I just being so unbelievably obvious? I looked around, trying to catch any looks our way. Mostly, I was checking to see if Patsy was around, but she would never take recess duty. I looked back at Dallis, and now he was pulling the celery sticks out from the ground and breaking them.

This was stupid, I suddenly realised. And really wrong. I shouldn’t be doing this, but I had to. I sighed and ran my hand down my face. “I’m sorry I’m bothering you, Dallis. Thing is…I heard you were Lenny’s friend, and that you were playing with him the day before he…moved.”

At the mention of Lenny’s name, Dallis’ eyes darted to mine as he froze. I looked at his expression closely. He almost looked…scared.

“I just miss him,” I said slowly. “I…was wondering if you missed him, too.”

He nodded once. “I miss him.”

“Yeah, I thought you would. We didn’t know he was moving. So…”

He went quiet for several moments, his eyes falling back down to the celery sticks in his hands. “She didn’t take him,” he whispered. “I keep telling everyone that.”

I stilled, feeling a bolt of shock run through my chest. My brows furrowed. “She didn’t take him?”

He shook his head, swallowing. “I keep telling everyone, but no one listens to me. Mom keeps telling me I’m wrong, but she didn’t take him. Someone else did.”

“Who?” I asked, unable to keep the eagerness out of my tone. God, I hoped I didn’t sound like Hal right now, but…goddammit, I wasn’t trying to mine my next news report.

Dallis pursed his lips. “You won’t believe me. Nobody does.”

“No, I will,” I said urgently. “I will, Dallis. Why do you think I went to his house? I’ll believe you. I promise.”

Dallis sighed, and I glanced back down at my watch. Three more minutes until the bell rang. I waited for him, but the seconds kept bleeding by, and he looked unsure of me. I chewed my lips, hesitantly asking, “He left but it wasn’t with his mother, is that what you’re saying?”

He nodded once, slowly, but his lips remained sealed.

“Do you know who took him?”

His breathing slowed as he contemplated my question, and then he nodded again, just once.

I leaned in closer. “Buddy, please tell me who you think took him.”

The clock was ticking. The damn bell was going to ring.

“It was a man,” he said. “We were playing tag…and this guy showed up. Suddenly Lenny stopped playing and ran up to him.”

“Do you know who this guy was?”

“No.”

I had to squeeze my fists to stop from shaking. “Do you remember what he looked like?”

He nodded. “Yeah.”

“Dallis, please tell me what he looked like.”

With thirty seconds to spare, Dallis told me in one line, and I felt my world go topsy-turvy. By the time the bell rang, and he raced inside, ditching behind his celery sticks, I was flat on my ass, my gaze lost to the past.