“Don’t be jealous,” Anna said. “She’ll probably get sent back.”
“People get sentback?”
James went inside and got a himself a beer, then he took a long walk in the fields. He didn’t want Anna to go with him.
Anna waited for him on the porch swing. She wasn’t sure James would make it back without her.
He did. Long after dark.
He walked in slow strides up to the porch. “Hey,” he said.
“Hey,” Anna said. “I didn’t know if you’d be able to find your way.”
“The fields disappeared as soon as I couldn’t see the house. But … it was all here again when I came back for it.”
“I’m glad,” she said.
“Can I sit with you?”
“Of course.”
He dropped down onto the swing, and it rocked for a few seconds.
“There’s dinner inside if you want it,” she said. “My parents are in there watching TV.”
“I should be nicer to your parents.”
“I know they make you nervous.”
“Still …” He sighed and rubbed his face. “I just want to goso bad.”
“I know.”
“It feels sourgent.”
She nodded.
“And I don’t even know why! I just feel like I’m supposed to be somewhere else. Like I’m a piece in a larger puzzle, and all I want is to click into place.”
Anna didn’t say anything. It didn’t seem like she should. She didn’t feel anything urgently. (Except maybe urgently wanting James to stay.)
It hardly bothered her anymore when other characters were called in. She was so used to it—sometimes she was relieved. They got some unbearable smart-asses around here. Good riddance to them.
It was a little insulting to think thatCrazy Old Reneegot the call beforeAnna,but Anna still wasn’t upset about it.
“I feel like I have a job,” James said, “and she won’t let me do it. It’sinfuriating.”
“I’m sorry,” Anna said.
“I don’t work for the government anymore, by the way—I’m writing a book.”
“What about?”
“I don’t know.” He sounded glum. “It feels like she’s losing the thread.”
Anna put her hand on his knee and gave it a reassuring squeeze. “She’s just working on you.”
James covered her hand with his own and squeezed back. “I realized tonight … she doesn’t have to use me. She could come up with someone entirely new. And then I’ll just fade out.”
