“She’s got the big, soft eyes and dished face of an Arabian,” Justin’s dad said. “Let’s let her out to play in one of those pens for a while.”
* * * *
Justin’s mom drove both of them to school Monday morning and walked with Lee to the office. He seemed apprehensive about being back in school, but Justin’s parents had insisted.
“We don’t want anyone to be able to say that we aren’t trying to do what’s best for you,” Justin’s dad explained. “Semester tests start tomorrow, and on Friday school will be out for the year. Do you think you can pass your exams?”
“I think so,” Lee said. He and Justin had studied together for Mrs. Farr’s test. Justin was becoming concerned that Lee might make a better grade than he did.
In class, Mrs. Farr went over the review sheet and then gave the students the rest of the period to study. Lee sat in the back corner looking nervous. The unaccustomed silence felt strange, and when Mrs. Farr walked to the back of the room, everyone could hear what she said to Lee.
“Good to have you back, Lee. You must have been really sick.”
“Yes, ma’am,” Lee responded.
“What happened to your arm?” she asked, indicating the white gauze bandage on his wrist.
“I...I scratched it. On a nail,” Lee stammered.
“Ouch,” Mrs. Farr said touching him on the shoulder and walking away.
Justin waited near Lee’s locker before lunch and walked to the cafeteria with him. They got Snack Bar pizza and sat at a table next to the far wall. Across the room, Justin could see Charlotte getting up from her table and coming toward them carrying her tray of half-eaten food. She sat down on the other side of Lee. As Lee turned to talk to her, Justin saw Joel come out of the Snack Bar behind James. Hesitating for a minute, Joel said something to James and then walked across the room toward Lee and Justin. James watched him go and then sat at another table. Justin felt a rush of affection for Joel. He wasn’t going along with the group of kids who were making Lee’s life miserable. Joel made up his own mind about things. Sliding onto the bench beside Justin, he leaned over and smiled at Lee.
“Thought you had disappeared for good, man,” he said. “Glad that bunch of creeps didn’t run you off.”
As Justin made his way toward his locker after school, he heard Charlotte’s voice calling to him. He stepped to the side of the hall, and she hurried to catch up.
“Brenda told me that Casey has been suspended for the rest of the year,” she panted. “She’s going to have to take her exams in the principal’s office.”
“Wow,” Justin said. “I almost feel sorry for the principal.”
“But wait. That’s not all,” Charlotte went on. “Her parents have to pay for the damage to the bus. It’s supposed to be over six hundred dollars. And Casey’s going to start the tenth grade at the alternative school next year. Has to stay for at least the first six weeks. That ought to put a crimp in her style. I’ve heard there are some baaaad kids over there.”
“Has Casey said anything to you?” Justin asked.
“Not yet. I think they just had the meeting with her parents yesterday, and she isn’t going to be allowed to come back to class.”
“Do you think she’ll figure out who turned her in?”
“I’m sure she has already figured it out,” Charlotte said, straightening her shoulders. “If she calls me, I’m ready for her. Bring it on.”
“How did Brenda find out?” Justin asked.
“I’m not sure. Everybody knows. There are lots of happy girls in Casey’s P.E. class.”
* * * *
It was a relief to concentrate on final exams for the next few days. Justin waited for Lee at his locker after school each day and walked to the bus with him. He filled Lee in on the news about Casey, but Lee didn’t seem to care very much. Once Justin noticed a group of boys watching them with more than the usual interest, but they made it to the bus without incident. The last test was finished on Thursday afternoon.
“I won’t be home when you get here today,” Justin’s mom said Friday morning. “I’m going to a meeting of volunteers at the library. The key is under the stone by the rosebush where it always is.”
Justin waited at Lee’s locker for several minutes after school let out, but Lee didn’t show up. When most of the students were gone from the halls, he decided to go out the front door and see if Lee was already outside. Since it was the last day of school, he probably didn’t have anything left in his locker. Standing on the front steps, he scanned the campus for any sign of Lee.
Wild hilarity prevailed, although there were a few girls who had tears in their eyes. Notebooks and loose sheets of paper were strewn everywhere, and screams of joy echoed off the old brick walls of the building. Charlotte came hurrying up the steps and took Justin’s arm.
“Where’s Lee going?” she asked anxiously.
“I don’t know. I can’t find him.”
“He got in that black truck with the horse trailer over there,” Charlotte said.
“Where,” Justin asked, looking in the direction Charlotte pointed. A new black pickup with a horse trailer hitched behind it was pulling out into the traffic. The trailer was rusty and white and said Ace Trailer Rental in big red letters on the side. As it passed, Justin ran forward, waving frantically with his good arm. The windows were darkly tinted, and Justin couldn’t see who was inside the truck, but he could see a long, black tail hanging over the trailer door. It was Rita.
Justin’s heart pounded. Lee’s parents must have come back for him. He raced back toward the school building, dropping his backpack on the steps. The office was empty, and he remembered seeing the secretary outside with the teachers keeping an eye on the wild celebrations in the schoolyard.
The first person Justin spotted on his way back out was the principal.
“Lee’s parents came and picked him up,” he gasped, pointing down the road.
“They did?” the principal said. “Aren’t they supposed to pick him up?”
“No, sir,” Justin said, realizing that it was too late. “He’s supposed to ride home with me on the bus.”
“You mean that bus?” the principal asked, nodding toward the last bus as it pulled away with its load of raucous students.
“Oh, no.” Justin sighed. Lee had been picked up right under his nose, and now he was stuck at school without a ride. Tears of frustration threatened to overwhelm him.
“Do you want to come in and use the phone to call your mom?” the principal asked kindly.
Justin turned toward the door and then remembered that his mom wasn’t home.
“No, thanks. She’s not home,” he said.
“My mom will give him a ride.” Charlotte stood beside him pointing toward her mom’s car.
Justin picked up his backpack and followed Charlotte as she led the way to a sleek, silver sedan and opened the front door. Tossing her backpack on the floor, she leaned into the car.
“Can we give Justin a ride home,” she asked. “He missed his bus.”
“Sure,” Charlotte’s mom answered. “Hop in, Justin. I’m glad to get a chance to meet you.”
Charlotte’s mom was slim and stylish, and the car had that new-leather seat smell, as though it had just been driven off the car lot.
“Thanks,” Justin said. “I live out in the country a’ways. Are you sure you don’t mind?”
“I know where you live,” Charlotte’s mom said. “I took Charlotte out there a couple of times after you got hurt.”
Charlotte turned around in the seat to look at Justin as her mom backed out of the parking spot.
“I thought Lee was staying with you,” she said.
“He was,” Justin said. “I didn’t know his parents were picking him up today. He didn’t say anything about it to me. I don’t think he knew they were back in town.”
“I’m sure it was just a mix-up and he’ll call you to explain,” Charlotte’s mom said.
Yeah, right, Jus
tin thought. It wasn’t a mix-up. They had come to get Lee when no one would notice they were taking him. They probably picked up his horse to be sure he’d go with them.
* * * *
In the quiet dimness of the deserted kitchen, Justin slumped into a chair. He knew he needed to let someone know that Lee hadn’t come home with him, but he didn’t know how to reach his mom at the library meeting. Finally he looked on the front of the phone book for his dad’s emergency number and dialed.
“Texas Parks and Wildlife,” the operator answered.
“This is Justin MacArthur,” Justin said. “Do you know how I can reach my dad, Robert MacArthur? He’s a game warden.”
“I know who he is, honey,” the operator said, “but he’s not in the office right now. I can call him on the radio and have him call you back. Is it an emergency?”
“No, ma’am, but I really need to talk to him.”
“All right. I’ll have him give you a call. Are you at home?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Justin sat staring at the silent telephone, willing it to ring. When it rang a few minutes later, he jumped.
“Dad, Lee’s parents came to school and picked him up,” he explained when he heard his dad’s voice. He rushed through the details about the black pickup and rented horse trailer.
“Are you sure he got in the truck?”
“Yes. Charlotte saw him get in. And his horse was already in the trailer.”
“Do you know the make of the pickup?”
“No, all I know is that it was a new, black pickup. I was so surprised that I didn’t even think about getting a license number.”
“Okay, son. You stay by the phone, and I’ll be in touch with you.”
After Justin hung up, the silence in the house closed in around him. Again and again, he thought through the things he should have done. He should have called the police from school. They had an hour’s head start now. He should have gotten a license number. Finally he got up and paced around the house. Lee’s clothes were still in the guest room. The bed was neatly made as it always was when Lee wasn’t asleep in it. His toothbrush stood in the cup in the bathroom next to Justin’s. Maybe he would call when his parents left him alone again, even though they would probably forbid it. Maybe they would never see or hear from him again. Would he be upset enough to try suicide again? What would happen when he ran out of the medicine that blunted his depression? Despair began to creep into Justin’s heart. He had wanted to help, but making friends with Lee may have made his life even more intolerable.
He was relieved when a car door slammed, and he heard his mom call his name from the kitchen. The story poured out of him as they sat together at the kitchen table.
“Your father will do his best to find him,” she said, squeezing Justin’s arm sympathetically. “You did everything you could, but you couldn’t have stopped them by yourself. They’re his parents—even if we wanted to, we couldn’t stop them from taking him. For now we need to be patient and hope something can be worked out.”
An atmosphere of gloom hung over the kitchen as Justin’s mom browned the hamburgers for supper.
“Will you go out to the garden and get an onion and a couple of tomatoes?” she asked as she dug through the refrigerator for pickles and mayonnaise.
It was almost six o’clock, but the sun was still blistering hot as Justin made his way under the arch above the garden gate. The scent of the jasmine that grew over the arch was sweet as summertime and reminded him of what a good day this should have been. School was out for the summer, and long days in the outdoors lay ahead of him. Joel would be waiting for an invitation to ride or fish. Imagining Lee sitting alone in another dark, empty house robbed Justin of the joy that the first day of summer vacation always brought. Where would the empty house be this time, he wondered, somewhere else in Texas or in another state?
He turned to close the garden gate behind him, juggling the tomatoes and the onion in the hand that was still imprisoned by his cast. Soon the cast would be gone, too, another reminder of Lee vanished. Rounding the corner of the house he saw a horse far down the lane. Someone must have left the gate open. Slowly it dawned on him that the horse was too dark to be Twister or Camaro, and someone was walking in front of it. It was Lee.
“Mom, Mom!” he yelled. “Lee’s coming!”
Tossing the onion and the tomatoes on the grass by the kitchen door, Justin began to walk down the lane. Slowly at first and then faster, he went to meet Lee and his black mare. He heard the kitchen door slam as his mom came out of the house. Lee saw him coming and tried to hurry Rita along, but she was having none of it. Then a ringing neigh came from below the house. Twister and Camaro had seen them, too. Rita lifted her head. Her little high-set ears pricked forward, almost touching at the tips, and she called to the two geldings, picking up the pace as she followed Lee toward the house.
“Hey, man,” Lee said when he got close enough to be heard. “Can I get a drink of water? I’m dry enough to blow away.”
After Rita was installed in the barn with a scoop of sweet feed and an armful of hay, Justin and Lee walked back toward the house.
“I thought you were history,” Justin admitted. “When I saw Rita’s tail hanging over the back door of the trailer, I figured you were on your way out of town for good.”
“We were,” Lee said, “but after I got in the truck, I asked my parents to pull over so we could talk. When my dad stopped in the grocery store parking lot, I was shocked. I figured he’d just keep right on driving. I used to get mad and clam up, but this time I begged. I begged them to let me stay here for a while, even though I wasn’t sure your parents would be willing to have me.” He took a long, shuddering breath.
“They want you to stay,” Justin said confidently. “Mom was pretty frantic when she heard you were missing.”
“My mother talked to me like an adult for the first time ever,” Lee said. “She said they’ve always been uncomfortable with the idea of leaving me alone, but they thought it would be worse hotel-hopping all the time. I guess I convinced them that I couldn’t take being alone anymore. They were really upset when I cut myself.”
“We were all pretty upset about it,” Justin said.
“I’ve been a problem for them from the beginning. For a few years when I was little my mom stayed home with me, but then they started hiring sitters, and the sitters always got too nosy. My parents can’t tolerate anyone butting into their business.”
Inside the kitchen, Justin’s mom wrapped her arms around Lee and held him tight for a minute.
“We’re so glad you’re here,” she said. “Justin is looking forward to having you around. I think he gets lonely once in a while, too, being an only child and all. You are welcome to stay with us for as long as you need to.”
“Thanks,” Lee said, looking embarrassed and relieved at the same time.
“And right after supper, I’ve got some jobs for you both,” she added.
* * * *
A letter addressed to Lee in neat black lettering arrived in the mail the following week. Lee sat for a long time looking at the envelope before he tore it open. Justin held his breath as Lee read slowly through the handwritten page. Justin could tell from the back of the second page that it was a form with a title at the top. He could read the bold, black print through the paper.
Temporary Guardianship Of A Minor
Lee looked at the form and then handed it to Justin’s dad. Justin could tell that Lee was struggling to hold back tears. His father looked the form over thoughtfully.
“This gives us permission to act as your legal guardians,” Justin’s dad explained, glancing at Lee with sympathy. “It looks official, signed, and notarized. Did you know they were going to do this?”
“No. I knew they were upset because I didn’t want to move to a new place with them. Well...that’s not really true. My mom was upset, but my dad was just plain mad. I hate it when my mom cries.” Tears spilled over and dripped down the sid
es of Lee’s nose. He wiped them away with the tail of his shirt. Justin’s mom sat down in the chair across from Lee and took both of his hands in hers.
“Maybe all that has happened will make them think about what their lifestyle was doing to you,” she said.
“Maybe...” Lee said. Silently, he handed the letter to Justin’s mom. Justin read it over her shoulder.
Dear Lee,
Your father and I regret that we didn’t understand how unhappy you were. Because we are making a lot of money, we thought we could buy you the things you needed to be happy. Now that we are involved in computer marketing, it is difficult to find work where we can make the kind of money we are making now. All our lives we have struggled to make enough money to survive. Now we can have the things we always wanted. We knew it was difficult for you moving to new places so often, but you made good grades, and we thought you liked having so much freedom. Isn’t that what teenagers always want?
For now, we are willing to assign temporary custody of you to the MacArthurs. That will make you happy and free us from our concerns about leaving you alone. We will send money each month for your room and board and to buy feed for your horse. We have included the necessary paperwork and will call the MacArthurs to discuss the situation with them. If they do not agree to take guardianship, other arrangements will need to be made.
When things settle down a little, I plan to look into the possibility of bringing your grandfather to America to live. I know that you were very close to him.
We will speak on Friday.
~Uhm-ma
Justin didn’t know what to say. His heart ached for Lee.
“Cheeseburgers are almost ready,” Justin’s mom said, handing the letter back to Lee.
“My grandfather was right,” Lee said as they sat down at the table.
“Right about what?” Justin asked.
“Right about the tiger. He always said, ‘Speak of the tiger and it will come.’ It was like a warning—a warning to keep quiet about dangerous things. If I’d listened to his advice...”
Speak of the Tiger Page 14
