Hideout Page 17

  Dad came up the ladder and stood over us. I felt a hand on my shoulder.

  “Don’t let him die,” I said.

  Officer Stockton continued to pump Davey’s chest and study his face. “Breathe, kid,” he said.

  I remembered what Davey had told me about seeing his dead mother. That you could tell nobody was in there. That she was gone. And that’s what I thought, looking at him. That Davey wasn’t in there.

  Officer Stockton pumped at Davey’s chest again, more forcefully this time and with a growing sense of urgency. “Breathe, dammit!” he said.

  “Dad?” I said quietly.

  He didn’t answer me.

  “Dad, is he—”

  Davey’s body suddenly convulsed as the boy coughed and spit up water. Officer Stockton grabbed his head and turned it sideways and stuck his finger into Davey’s mouth. Then Davey was coughing up more water and color flooded his face. Dad squeezed my shoulder and I felt relief wash over me.

  “There you go,” Officer Stockton said. “Cough it up, kid.”

  Davey’s eyes opened and he wheezed and drew his knees up.

  “Just take it easy,” Officer Stockton said.

  Davey looked about, his eyes foggy and glazed over. He was taking deep breaths and his chest was rising and falling rapidly. Then he saw me and coughed again and smiled.

  “Sam,” he said.

  I laughed nervously. “Hey, Davey.”

  Officer Stockton rocked back on his heels and rubbed his face with his hand. Davey coughed again, keeping his eyes on me.

  “Did I almost die?” he said.

  “Yeah,” I said.

  “Did you get in trouble?”

  I laughed again. “Not yet,” I said.

  Officer Stockton put his hand behind Davey’s shoulder and helped him sit up. “Just rest here for a few minutes, Davey. Does your chest hurt?”

  “A little,” he said.

  “Okay. I don’t think I broke a rib, but you’re going to be sore. Sam, why don’t you stay back here with him while I get us to the dock.”

  “Sure,” I said.

  “Keep your mouth shut, Davey!” Slade shouted. I was surprised to hear him speak. Davey looked to his right and seemed to notice him for the first time.

  “Roger, you wanna keep an eye on that other fellow?” Officer Stockton said.

  “No problem,” Dad said. “Is that your brother, Davey?”

  Davey studied Slade for a moment. “He’s not my real brother,” he said. “I barely know him.”

  42

  In all of the confusion there hadn’t been time to tell Dad anything about what had happened. Then Officer Stockton was driving us back to the marine police dock and the engines were too loud to talk over. Dad stood guard over Slade, glancing back at me and Davey occasionally.

  When we got to the dock some of Dad’s police officers were there to take Slade. There were also two S&R boats tying up like they had just come in from the south. Slade looked back at Davey once before the officers dragged him off, but it was more of a warning than anything else. Davey glanced at him, then turned away.

  “You want to tell my dad about the rest?” I asked him.

  Davey looked at me. “You can tell him,” he said. “It’s okay.”

  Dad was helping Officer Stockton tie the mooring lines when I approached him. “There’s a dead body out there,” I said.

  * * *

  Davey remained at his spot in the stern while I sat inside the wheelhouse with Dad and Officer Stockton. I told them everything about the swamp camp and the marijuana, and I told them where Davey’s dad was. As my story unfolded, Officer Stockton took notes and Dad watched me with disbelief.

  “I just wanted to do something brave,” I said.

  Dad nodded, still trying to wrap his head around all that had happened.

  “And then I didn’t know how to tell anybody about it,” I said.

  “You could have gotten yourself killed, Sam,” Dad said. But his words were more him considering it to himself than a lecture.

  “I know,” I said. “It just got out of control.”

  “We started looking for you last night. We got it out of Grover that you’d gone out in your boat, but he didn’t know where. S&R’s been all over south of here. We never imagined you’d be up in the management area.”

  I looked at the floor. I didn’t know what else to say.

  “Then early this morning Grover mentioned something about a camp. And that’s when I remembered you asking me about that place. So Jim and I decided to run upriver.”

  I smiled. “Thanks, Grover,” I said, only half sarcastically.

  Dad hugged me to his shirt and rubbed my back. He didn’t mention all the lies or losing my boat. But I believed for the first time in my life that he was proud of me.

  “Let’s get you and your friend to the house,” he said.

  * * *

  We helped Davey off the patrol boat and up to Dad’s Tahoe. Officer Stockton said he’d come by the house and check on us later. The S&R crew was readying their gear again, and he was going to guide them upriver to recover the body and inspect the swamp camp.

  “I’m sorry about causing all the trouble,” I said.

  “Well, I think you’ve learned more lessons than we’ve got time to go into right now,” Officer Stockton said. “I’m glad you two came out of it okay.” He turned to Dad. “Go get them cleaned up, Roger. I guess you’ll handle Davey’s situation from here?”

  “Thanks, Jim. I’ll handle it. If he complains about his chest for more than a couple of days, I’ll get it checked out.”

  “Good,” Officer Stockton said. “I had to get pretty rough with him.”

  Dad reached out and they shook hands. “Hey,” Dad said, “I couldn’t have done better.”

  Officer Stockton nodded and turned to go. He lifted a finger into the air and waved it over his shoulder.

  I opened the back door of Dad’s Tahoe and told Davey to climb in. I got in behind him and shut the door again. When I looked over he was sitting up straight and smiling to himself.

  “What?” I said.

  “Nothing,” he said.

  I guessed he’d probably never been in a car that nice, much less a police car. “It’s faster than the regular ones,” I said.

  “Cool,” Davey said.

  Dad got in and pulled his door shut.

  “Buckle up, boys,” he said.

  Davey grabbed his seat belt and jerked it out and snapped it quickly into the buckle. Then he faced forward, grabbed the door handle, and braced himself.

  “It’s not like that,” I said.

  He looked at me and laughed. Then I started laughing, too, and neither of us could look at each other without cracking up. Dad cocked his eyes at us in the rearview mirror, grinned, and shook his head.

  When we got home Mom was waiting for us in the driveway. She hugged me tightly; it felt good, and I wasn’t the least bit embarrassed about it. After a while she let go and I turned back to Davey, who was standing patiently behind me.

  “This is Davey,” I said. “He’s my friend I found in the swamp.”

  Mom raised her eyebrows and studied him. “Really?” she said.

  And I realized Dad hadn’t had a chance to call her and explain everything. He walked up to her and said, “It’s a long story, sweetheart.”

  “It sounds like it,” she said. “You boys look awful. How did you get so many cuts?”

  “I think we’d better get them inside and cleaned up,” Dad said. “Then they can tell you all about it over lunch.”

  We went inside the house, and Dad told me to show Davey my room and told both of us to take showers while he called to check on things at the office. Davey followed me down the hall and into my room.

  “This is nice,” Davey said.

  “It’s all right,” I said.

  I watched Davey looking around, taking in everything.

  “We need to get you some more glasses,” I said.
>
  “Yeah,” he said. “And maybe some shoes.”

  “You need, like, everything.”

  “Wish we had some of that money.”

  “It was stolen. We couldn’t keep it.”

  “Well, I didn’t know it,” he said.

  “Yes you did. You just didn’t want to believe it.”

  Davey looked at me. “I just didn’t want to believe any of it.”

  “I know. My parents’ll buy you what you need. It’s no big deal.”

  I heard the phone ringing, and then Mom called me.

  “Grover’s on the phone,” she said.

  “Okay,” I said.

  “Your friend?” Davey said.

  “Yeah,” I said. “I’ll be right back. You can go ahead and take a shower in my bathroom.”

  “Okay,” he said.

  I went into the kitchen, where Mom was fixing lunch. The smell of meatloaf and mashed potatoes was already flowing throughout the house. She studied me and shook her head.

  “You and your friend need to swab those cuts with alcohol.”

  “We will,” I said. “I just need to talk to Grover first.”

  I picked the handset off the counter and walked into the living room with it.

  “Hey,” I said.

  “I thought you’d died.”

  “I almost did. Glad you finally told them where I was.”

  “I told them what I knew! Which was close to zero!”

  “I know, Grover. Geez, I’m just kidding.”

  “I’d come see you, but it’s hard to get up.”

  “I know.”

  “So when are you coming over?”

  “I just got home, Grover.”

  “So?”

  “So, like, my parents are happy that I’m alive and everything and they probably want me to stick around for lunch at least.”

  “How long’s that going to take?”

  “I don’t know. And Davey’s over here and we’re cleaning him up and feeding him.”

  “That sounds like you found a dog.”

  “You know what I mean.”

  “What are you going to do after that?”

  “I’ll come over as soon as I can.”

  “I mean, what are you going to do with him?”

  “We haven’t figured it out yet.”

  “Are you going to find him a place to live?”

  “I guess. But it’s not like we can just put an ad in the paper for him.”

  “Bring him over here when you come so I can meet him.”

  “Okay,” I said. “I’ll call you later.”

  “Okay,” he said.

  I started to hang up, then stopped myself.

  “Grover!” I said.

  “What?”

  “Thanks for checking on me.”

  “You’re welcome,” he said.

  43

  When I got back to my room Davey was already finished with his shower and standing in the middle of the floor with a towel around his waist. I set the alcohol and cotton swabs on my dresser.

  “That was fast,” I said.

  “I didn’t wanna use all the hot water,” he said.

  “We’ve got tons of hot water.”

  “I didn’t know,” he said.

  I told Davey he could take longer in the shower, but he said he was already clean. Then I told him to disinfect his cuts and get what he wanted to wear out of my dresser drawers.

  When I came out he was standing in the same place waiting for me, this time dressed in a pair of my old shorts and a T-shirt.

  “This okay?” he said.

  “Whatever you want,” I said.

  “Your mom must be a good cook,” he said. “It smells really good.”

  “She is,” I said. “And I’m starving. Let me get dressed and we’ll eat.”

  I started for my dresser to grab some clothes for myself.

  “Sam?” he said.

  I stopped and faced him again.

  “I think I’m about to fall down.”

  “What?”

  “I’m really tired. But your mom fixed lunch and everything.”

  “It’s okay,” I said. “Get in my bed and sleep. You can eat later.”

  “I can sleep on the floor,” he said.

  “No, use my bed.”

  Davey was too tired to argue. He walked to my bed and lay on top of it. He pulled my pillow under his head and closed his eyes.

  I pulled on some shorts and another T-shirt. Just talking about sleep had made me realize I was tired, too. Suddenly there was nothing I wanted more than to lie down and sleep next to him.

  As I was hanging my towel in the bathroom I heard Mom knock gently on my door. I walked out and opened it. She looked past me at Davey on the bed.

  “He’s too tired to eat,” I said quietly.

  She came in and got a blanket off the end of the bed and put it over him. She watched him for a moment. “It’s okay,” she said. “Let him sleep.”

  “I’m pretty tired, too,” I said.

  She put her hand on my back, guided me out of the room, and pulled the door behind us. “Go get into our bed,” she said. “Lunch can wait.”

  * * *

  I woke in Mom and Dad’s bed that evening. Daylight was fading outside the window, and I heard birds cheeping and squirrels fussing in the treetops. I didn’t remember having ever slept so soundly.

  I got up and walked into the sunroom, where Mom was working on a new painting. She set her paintbrush down and wiped her hand on a dishcloth.

  “Feeling better?” she said.

  I nodded. “A lot. Davey up yet?”

  “No. He’s still sleeping. I checked on him a few minutes ago. Your father should be home shortly. He went back to the precinct.”

  I sat on a small sofa beneath the window and rubbed my eyes. I knew the talk was coming.

  “Your father told me most of it,” she said.

  I looked at the floor and nodded.

  “Please don’t make me worry about you like that again.”

  “I won’t,” I said.

  Mom let the silence sink into me for a moment.

  “Thank you,” she finally said. “I don’t suppose there’s really anything else I can say, Sam. I guess you must have more of your father in you than I thought. You make doing the wrong thing seem right … somehow.”

  I took that as her approval. I smiled and looked at her.

  She wasn’t smiling. “But don’t do it again,” she repeated firmly.

  I frowned and nodded that I understood. Then I looked out the window and studied the fireflies floating in the gloam.

  “Mom, do you think you can help Davey?”

  “I’ve already made some calls. It’s going to take time to figure out the best situation for him, but your father and I will do whatever we can.”

  I heard the front door open.

  “There’s your dad now,” she said, standing.

  We met Dad in the kitchen, where he was grabbing a beer out of the refrigerator. He straightened and saw me, and I could tell by the look on his face that he had something good to tell us.

  “You’re alive again,” Dad joked.

  “Shhh,” Mom said.

  Dad glanced in the direction of my room.

  “He’s still asleep,” I said.

  Dad widened his eyes and nodded. Mom moved past him and began pulling the meatloaf from the oven, where she’d been keeping it warm.

  “Well,” Dad said to me quietly, “Jim found your boat. Looks to be in good shape. It was tied up at the launch at the end of Roys Road. We’ll go get it in the morning.”

  I felt another layer of relief settle over me.

  “Did they find Jesse and Fred?” I asked.

  “Not yet, but my guys say they know where each of them lives. That Slade fellow got to talking once they told him how much trouble he was facing.”

  “How about Davey’s dad?”

  “They found him,” he said. “Jim thinks maybe it was a
heart attack. The coroner’s going to let us know.”

  “Will he have a funeral?”

  “Yeah, we’ll get all that worked out. Davey holding up okay?”

  “He’s been sleeping all afternoon.” I turned to Mom. “I guess I ought to wake him.”

  She nodded. “Go ahead,” she said. “You boys need to eat.”

  * * *

  Davey sat small and unsure of himself at the table. While Dad said the blessing he stared at his plate. Then Davey glanced at me, and he looked so funny that I thought I was going to laugh out loud. He smiled and quickly looked away again.

  Dad passed around the meatloaf and mashed potatoes and other sides, and I saw Davey watching to see how we did things, then he did them the same way, taking the same portions. It wasn’t until we began eating that both of us lost any self-control. We shoveled our food down like we were in a race.

  “Take it easy, boys,” Dad said.

  But I could tell he wasn’t really concerned. He and Mom watched us and smiled at each other.

  “It’s really good,” Davey said, chewing.

  “They found the Bream Chaser,” I mumbled, with my mouth full.

  Davey’s eyes got wide with excitement and he nodded. He stuffed in another bite. “Good,” he said.

  We cleaned our plates, and Mom passed everything around to us again.

  No one said much of anything else until we were halfway through our second helpings and starting to slow. Mom and Dad had both finished by then, and they were waiting and watching us patiently.

  “Davey,” Mom said, “I told Sam earlier that I made a few calls for you today. Our church has a social services group that can help locate a family for you.”

  Davey glanced at me.

  “They picked out a bad one for him last time,” I said. “I think he’s worried about that.”

  “Well, our group doesn’t work that way,” Mom said. “You get to interview the family first, and if you don’t think you want to live with them, then you don’t have to.”

  Davey looked up at her. “You mean, I get to pick?”

  “That’s right,” Mom said. “And I’m going to get involved with the interviews myself to make sure we find a family you’re comfortable with.”