“Dude, you can’t call 911 unless there’s an emergency.”
“I know. That’s what the lady said. Do you have any toys?”
“I do not,” Alex said, cracking his knuckles. His only experience with kids was Amber’s daughter, who was a holy terror. She was who fueled his dislike of children.
“Look, we probably oughta get you home. Your mom might be worried. What’s your name again?”
“Calvin. My mom’s asleep. She musta stayed up too late making videos.”
“You mean watching videos?”
“No. She makes ’em when I go to preschool or at night cuz I make noise.”
Videos? Huh. Like homemade porn? No doubt she had the body for it, but what kind of mother would do that?
“Oh,” Alex said. “Maybe we should have talked about stranger danger instead of fire safety. What if I was into weird, kinky stuff?”
“What’s kinky?” Calvin asked, scratching his nose.
“Shit. Never mind that. Don’t tell your mom I said that.”
“You said ‘shit.’” He giggled. “That’s a bad word.”
“Well, then don’t mention that either.”
“We won’t,” the boy said.
“We?”
“Me and my friend.” He nodded to the seat next to him. The empty seat.
So, the kid had an imaginary friend. “Please let his name be Hobbes,” Alex mumbled.
“Hobbes? No. What a silly name.” Calvin laughed.
“Wait, you’ve never heard ofCalvin and Hobbes?”
Calvin shrugged and shook his head.
“Impossible. Wait here.” Alex stomped over to his living room bookcase and pulled out several paperback comic books. Of course, Calvin had not stayed put and was sitting on the couch when Alex turned around with the books.
“What are those?”
“Um, only the best comic of all time,” Alex said.
He went to sit next to Calvin, who cried, “Watch out! You’re sitting on Sam.”
“Sam’s your ima—your friend? That’s my brother’s name. Tell him to move.”
Calvin giggled.
“What’s so funny?” Alex asked.
“Sam’s a girl, silly. She gots a nickname.”
“Oh, well, pardon me. Tellherto move then. I’m sitting here.”
“Why don’t you tell her?” Calvin said.
