Kel said something to me as I rushed toward the Barrens’ place, but I didn’t catch it, barely registering Alicia and Emmy standing in Dad’s backyard, a Frisbee on the ground between them.
By the time I made it within shouting distance, the cop had already grabbed Dad by the arm and was dragging him off the porch.
“Hey! Hey, stop! That’s my dad,” I said, jogging up to them.
The cop was young, maybe midtwenties, built like a bull. He could’ve picked Dad up and carried him over his head with ease, but there was plain uncertainty in his features. “What’s going on here?” he asked.
Dad glanced from the cop to me to the Barrens’。 “I just came up to ask the boys down to play,” he said. “The girls wanted them to come over.” A haze of confusion floated behind his eyes.
“I’m sorry, he has a condition,” I said, trying to draw Dad away from the cop’s grip, but he didn’t let him go. “I think he got mixed up for a second.”
“We got a call someone was prowling,” the cop said. “You know this is a crime scene, right?”
“Yes, yes, we’re aware. Like I said, he has a condition.”
The cop finally released Dad’s arm as another vehicle pulled up, and something inside me withered as Detective Spanner stepped out and headed toward us.
“I’ll take it from here, Ronny,” Spanner said.
“You sure, sir?”
“I’m good.”
The cop nodded, giving us one last look before heading back to his cruiser.
Spanner stopped before us, took in the food stains on my shirt and pants, the drying crust of Cory’s blood on my knuckles. I put my hands in my pockets. “What the fuck is going on here?”
“The girls—” Dad started, but I cut him off.
“Can he go home, please, while we talk about this?”
Spanner chewed on the side of his mouth, jerked his head once.
I pointed Dad in the direction of his house, where Kel was waiting on the edge of the yard, one hand held to her brow to block the late-evening sun. “Why don’t you go sit with Kel and the girls, Dad.” His face darkened, and more awareness seemed to come over him. He nodded and started off.
When Dad was halfway down the street, Spanner said, “Drake, I got about five minutes for this and patience for two. Speak.”
I told him about the girls’ request, how they weren’t aware of what had happened at the Barrens’。 Dad must have had a lapse, forgotten, and come up to the house to ask if the boys could come play. That was all.
Spanner pointed at the house. “Crime scene.”
“I understand.”
“Then seriously, do your dad a favor and find someone to watch him full time if this is going to be an issue.”
“I’m taking care of him.”
“Coulda fooled me.” I gritted my teeth. Didn’t speak. “And what the hell happened to you? Is that blood on your hands?”
“Cut myself on a broken dish.”
Spanner studied me for another second, a man looking through a microscope at a petri dish, then scanned the neighborhood. “I don’t need calls coming in for shit like this. We have enough on our plates as is. Keep your dad under wraps or there’ll be consequences.”
He turned and headed back to his car, giving me a dead stare as he swung the vehicle around and pulled out of the Loop.
I sagged, my body an old balloon losing air. The press of eyes followed me back to Dad’s. Watching from doorways, peering from behind curtains. I wanted to flash the middle finger to all of them, tell the whole Loop what I thought of their rubbernecking.
In the backyard, Kel and the girls waited by the rear entry. Kel wrung her hands. “I tried to stop him from going inside,” she said.
I glanced at the house. “It’s okay. I’ll clean up.” Alicia and Emmy were motionless, not looking at either of us. Silent tears slid down Emmy’s cheeks. I knelt before her. “Hey, you okay?” Barely a nod. “Everything’s all right. You’re not in trouble, right, Mom?”
“Right,” Kel said.
I wiped Emmy’s tears away with the cleanest part of my hand. “Grampa’s gonna take a little rest. His birthday tired him out. Okay?” Both girls nodded, and I hugged them.
“Go get in the car,” Kel said, and they circumvented the house for the front drive. When they were gone, she sighed and rubbed one side of her face. “What a nightmare.”
“Wasn’t exactly what I had in mind for his birthday.”