his number, then snapped the phone shut. I stared at the phone
glumly, then opened it and dialed Jac’s cell phone number. I’d been dialing it periodically since Jac’s mother had taken her
away, and it always went straight to voicemail. But this time, it rang.
“Do
not
ask me how I am,” I heard.
“Jac?”
“This is Jac if you agree not to ask me how I am,” she said.
“I’m just glad I got you,” I said. “I’ve been worried about you. Did your mom catch you?”
“Sort of,” Jac replied. “She caught me in the closet. But I had time to stash the phone in a boot. I told her I could only
listen to Yo-Yo Ma in an extremely enclosed and safe place.”
“Mmmm. Did she buy it?”
“Not likely. But there was no evidence that I was in the closet for any evil reason, so she dropped it. But she’s all over
me now, constantly barging into my room. A girl could get a complex.”
“Is it okay that you’re on the phone now?”
“Oh it’s fine. Even Mommy Dearest has to leave the house sometimes. She’s having her hideous helmet hair varnished, or whatever
they do down at her salon. Then she’s taking her car for a tune-up. I’m good for at least two hours. And like I said, I don’t
want to talk about
her.
”
You just did,
I thought, but I was wise enough to keep it to myself.
“Okay. So I thought it over last night, and I think I’m going to call Orin.”
“Good,” Jac said. “Do you know how to get in touch with him?”
“My mom gave me his card. She said he’d be a good person to go to for help about . . . the kind of stuff I might be having
prob-lems with, if I couldn’t confide in her. But I feel weird about it.”
“Well, presumably if your mom gave you his card, she feels comfortable about him—like he’s not an axe murder or anything.
Obviously your mom thinks highly of him, or she’d never have encouraged you to go to him. That’s a
good
thing, Kat, that she likes him. Or is that the problem? Are you afraid Orin might be stepfather material?”
I opened my mouth to say “Of course not!” but nothing came out. I hadn’t actually realized it ’til Jac said it out loud, but
she’d pinpointed why Orin made me uncomfortable. He seemed sort of cool, and he definitely had things to teach me, but I was
afraid if he were around more, Orin and my mom might end up getting involved, which opened up a can of worms that confused
me, grossed me out, and riled me up in all sorts of ways.
“If we can’t talk about
your
mother, then I don’t think we should talk about mine either,” I said, a tad defensively.
“I wasn’t exactly talking about her, but I get your drift. But Orin’s not your mother, so let’s talk about him.”
I squirmed and said nothing.
“I agree with your intuition. You need to get in touch with Orin so you can figure out the Tank thing. Maybe he knows things
about Tank that you don’t. And vice versa. I think you guys should join forces.”
“Yeah, I know, but I still feel weird about it. Calling some . . . man. It just feels . . . I mean, just because my mother
trusts him . . . I’ll need to get to know him better before I can judge him.”
“I think what you’re saying is you don’t mind getting his help, but you feel weird or embarrassed to be alone with him.”
“Yeah,” I mumbled.
“So see if he can meet you somewhere public. And I’ll go with you. Because then you’ll be comfortable, plus if I don’t get
out of this house I’m going to strangle myself.”
“What about your —”
“Uh uh uh!” Jac warned.
No mother talk.
“You can get away?” I asked.
“My mother can’t possibly get home for at least two hours. Probably more like two and a half. Look, it’s . . . nine fifteen
now. Try and get ahold of this guy, and figure out a place to meet, then call and tell me where.”
“Jac, you’re in so much trouble already. Do you really think it’s a good idea to sneak out again?”
“I
glumly, then opened it and dialed Jac’s cell phone number. I’d been dialing it periodically since Jac’s mother had taken her
away, and it always went straight to voicemail. But this time, it rang.
“Do
not
ask me how I am,” I heard.
“Jac?”
“This is Jac if you agree not to ask me how I am,” she said.
“I’m just glad I got you,” I said. “I’ve been worried about you. Did your mom catch you?”
“Sort of,” Jac replied. “She caught me in the closet. But I had time to stash the phone in a boot. I told her I could only
listen to Yo-Yo Ma in an extremely enclosed and safe place.”
“Mmmm. Did she buy it?”
“Not likely. But there was no evidence that I was in the closet for any evil reason, so she dropped it. But she’s all over
me now, constantly barging into my room. A girl could get a complex.”
“Is it okay that you’re on the phone now?”
“Oh it’s fine. Even Mommy Dearest has to leave the house sometimes. She’s having her hideous helmet hair varnished, or whatever
they do down at her salon. Then she’s taking her car for a tune-up. I’m good for at least two hours. And like I said, I don’t
want to talk about
her.
”
You just did,
I thought, but I was wise enough to keep it to myself.
“Okay. So I thought it over last night, and I think I’m going to call Orin.”
“Good,” Jac said. “Do you know how to get in touch with him?”
“My mom gave me his card. She said he’d be a good person to go to for help about . . . the kind of stuff I might be having
prob-lems with, if I couldn’t confide in her. But I feel weird about it.”
“Well, presumably if your mom gave you his card, she feels comfortable about him—like he’s not an axe murder or anything.
Obviously your mom thinks highly of him, or she’d never have encouraged you to go to him. That’s a
good
thing, Kat, that she likes him. Or is that the problem? Are you afraid Orin might be stepfather material?”
I opened my mouth to say “Of course not!” but nothing came out. I hadn’t actually realized it ’til Jac said it out loud, but
she’d pinpointed why Orin made me uncomfortable. He seemed sort of cool, and he definitely had things to teach me, but I was
afraid if he were around more, Orin and my mom might end up getting involved, which opened up a can of worms that confused
me, grossed me out, and riled me up in all sorts of ways.
“If we can’t talk about
your
mother, then I don’t think we should talk about mine either,” I said, a tad defensively.
“I wasn’t exactly talking about her, but I get your drift. But Orin’s not your mother, so let’s talk about him.”
I squirmed and said nothing.
“I agree with your intuition. You need to get in touch with Orin so you can figure out the Tank thing. Maybe he knows things
about Tank that you don’t. And vice versa. I think you guys should join forces.”
“Yeah, I know, but I still feel weird about it. Calling some . . . man. It just feels . . . I mean, just because my mother
trusts him . . . I’ll need to get to know him better before I can judge him.”
“I think what you’re saying is you don’t mind getting his help, but you feel weird or embarrassed to be alone with him.”
“Yeah,” I mumbled.
“So see if he can meet you somewhere public. And I’ll go with you. Because then you’ll be comfortable, plus if I don’t get
out of this house I’m going to strangle myself.”
“What about your —”
“Uh uh uh!” Jac warned.
No mother talk.
“You can get away?” I asked.
“My mother can’t possibly get home for at least two hours. Probably more like two and a half. Look, it’s . . . nine fifteen
now. Try and get ahold of this guy, and figure out a place to meet, then call and tell me where.”
“Jac, you’re in so much trouble already. Do you really think it’s a good idea to sneak out again?”
“I
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