she said. “Bruce Lee is only the greatest martial arts fighter ever. My dad and I used to watch his movies all the time.”
“Okay.”
“Hey, I’ve got a great idea. Why don’t you come over for dinner tonight?”
“I’m not sure I can,” I said, although I badly wanted to go over to her house.
“Come on. It’ll be fun. And you can help me learn all those Sandy Olsson songs.”
“Something tells me you already know them.”
“Then I’ll help you learn them, and we can sing the part together. You can be my understudy.”
I felt happy for once, not having to take a friend back to my own crappy home and let them see the chaos I lived in. But it was a school night, and I knew my mother would not let me go.
* * *
I’m talking. I say things out loud in my room when no one is around. I must look insane. Certain truths are coming back to me. Something tells me I must be careful what I say, even though I’m not sure what I’m going to say from one moment to the next.
The clock tells me it’s nearly nine. Since it’s light outside, it’s safe to assume that it’s morning. If memory serves me correctly, which has been really hard to determine lately, two periods of darkness have passed. Does that translate to a three-day stay in this hospital? Does it matter?
In five minutes they’ll be coming in: my mother, the doctors and nurses, friends and family. I hope I get to see Raisin. I plan on asking about Willow and seeing how she’s doing. I’m definitely going to ask someone to fetch me a cheeseburger from Bay Burgers, with extra pickles. I’m famished. No, I’m beyond hungry. Is that a good sign?
Why do I need to be careful what I say? Because it will shock people? I’m a good person, I keep telling myself. Willow was my BFF. She still is my BFF. They just need to find her, so we can get on with our lives.
ISLA
IT AMAZED HER HOW MANY PEOPLE HAD EXPRESSED CONCERN FOR Katie. Friends and family had come to the hospital, bearing treats, casseroles, and frozen dinners, offering to lend a hand in any way possible. Many hailed from her church, older women who had plenty of time on their hands and didn’t need to trudge to work each day. But there had been others, too. Drew, for example. She wondered if the boy actually loved her daughter or whether something else kept him tethered to Katie: loneliness, fear, the trajectory of what was accepted from young men in this town.
She felt happy because of Katie’s return. And scared at the same time, especially when Karl walked into the waiting room. He nodded as he sat across from her, this time, unlike the last, in full uniform. Today he had come for a specific reason: to cull information from Katie. Yesterday she had spoken, although she hadn’t been able to remember much about that fateful night she went missing. But speaking at least proved to be a positive sign.
Four days had passed, and Willow still hadn’t been found. Where was she? Isla prayed that Katie’s friend was still alive. She’d hate to break the news to Katie if the worst came to bear. To see her relive that horrific ordeal—whatever had happened to the two of them.
She nodded to Karl and stood. He held a coffee in hand and looked as if he hadn’t slept in days. Drew sat in the corner, biting his greasy thumbnail and bouncing his knee in rapid succession. He looked tense and on edge as he scanned the room. She went over and explained that he didn’t need to be here, but he told her that he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else.
Two minutes until visiting hour. While consulting with the doctor yesterday, she’d been happy to hear that she could take Katie home soon, depending on how her daughter felt. There was nothing she wanted more right now, and for a number of reasons.
How she’d managed to keep her composure, she didn’t know. Maybe after this ordeal ran its course, she’d finally crash and burn. Only she didn’t have the luxury of caring for herself or her own well-being. She had Raisin to worry about. And her father. Now Katie, too. Not to mention their sorry financial situation, which seemed more dire with each passing day, despite her growing business. She had been forced to close all