Page 15 of Locke 2

“I’m not saying there weren’t problems,” she added now, her tone softening. “But they weren’t big enough in my opinion that they needed to be reported.”

I swallowed my retort. It would just appear like I was fighting for the sake of it now if I kept pushing. She was set in her opinion; Patsy was a stubborn, unmoving woman. Then again, so was I. I clenched my teeth and kept my mouth shut, dropping the issue to her. She was logical, she made sense, and yet…

It still didn’t ease my concerns. Something in my gut continued to stir, the coldness growing sharp as I thought ofLenny sitting there amongst the many loud and smiling children in our classroom, his blank stare directed at nothing.

“He didn’t just leave, Kali,” the little voice whispered from behind me. My eyes watered as I glanced down at my dead little sister, dressed in the usual blue dress she died in. Her big brown eyes looked up at me, and she looked so fucking sad. “Something happened.”

???

Patsy was wary of me, especially when I suddenly decided to takeeveryrecess duty. After a couple days, though, she moved along. I hadn’t caused a fuss about Lenny, and I’d pretended to complain that I needed to walk off the weight I was packing on, which was utter bullshit. If anything, I was losing weight. Ever since Lenny “left town” on Saturday, I couldn’t stomach anything.

I was going kind of obsessed about Lenny. I visited his home yesterday, if you would even call it that. It looked literally like a hole in the wall of a townhome. There was a lot of debris in the front yard, things like paper waste and random bits of garbage. I hated that it supported Patsy’s claim that Lenny’s mom had hastily left. The talk of the town was that she was behind on rent and facing an eviction.

I did find a bunch of weather beaten Pokémon cards left scattered in the yard. I picked them up, one by one, not believing for a second that a little boy would happily leave behind these cards, especially Charazard, and a Surfing Pikachu.

No kid left behind a surfing fucking Pikachu.

“You looking for Tammy?” A voice drew me to a woman walking the trail to the sad townhouse next door. She was carrying a toddler who was sucking on a lollipop. Behind her was an older boy, and he looked familiar.

Aurora whispered at my side, “He’s one of the boys Lenny plays with at recess.” My spine straightened in surprise.

“Yeah, I thought I might catch her,” I responded with an easy smile.

“Oh, she’s gone,” she said, pulling out her keys. “Packed her things and drove off.”

“Do you know why she left?”

“I think she was getting evicted.” She shrugged, glancing at me. “She was a loud neighbour, so it was sort of a blessing in disguise. Are you family?”

“No.”

“Someone she owes money to then?”

I glanced fleetingly at her older boy again and shook my head, blurting out, “Just someone that works at her son’s school.”

What was his name again? I waited for Aurora to tell me, but she was mute.

The woman looked at me strangely. “So, you know they’re gone then.”

I kept my lie smooth. “I was away last week.”

The less I said the better. Usually people filled in the blanks, but the older boy that I was trying to remember the name ofnarrowed his eyes at me.Shit. His mother’s brows furrowed. “I didn’t know teachers paid students a house visit.”

My shoulders dropped. Quickly, I replied, “I’m not a teacher. Just a nosey teacher’s aide that cares too much about the kids. The mom in me can’t help it.”

Now her face gentled and she motioned with her head to the son in her arms. “I get it. I’m a mom and I feel it, too.”

“I just want to know he’s okay.”

With conviction, she said, “He is.”

“You’re sure?”

“She left with him,” she said quickly, her eyes eagerly holding my gaze. “I saw him. She was carrying him to the truck. He even waved goodbye.”

I nodded and let out a long, relieved breath. “That’s such a relief, thank you.”

“Yeah.” She looked away. “Anyway, I gotta feed my little guys.”

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