“Yeah. Let’s go back.” He took Kenny’s hand, and they walked back toward Jamie’s house, taking the shortcut through the bushes alongside the trail. He stopped Kenny as Charlie walked in front of the house and up the walk. He knocked on the door, and Todd held his breath to see what he’d do. Cindy wasprobably going nuts at the visitor, and he wondered if he should do something, when Andrea approached. Charlie loomed over her, but she pointed and waited until he was gone before going back to her yard.
Todd waited a few minutes.
“Is he gone?”
“I hope so,” Todd told him, and then took Kenny’s hand. They hurried across the neighbor’s open yard to the front of Jamie’s house and went inside. Todd locked the door behind them and closed the curtains in front. Then he breathed a sigh of relief.
“I don’t like him. He’s mean,” Kenny said. “He even smiles mean.”
Todd hugged Kenny and wondered if he was comforting his son or himself. He thought of messaging Jamie but took deep breaths and figured there was nothing he could do. Instead, he stayed inside, and after a few minutes, set Kenny up at the table with some crayons and a coloring book that Andrea had sent over. And while Kenny drew, Todd spent some time taking pictures of his ID and filling out applications for employment. Most asked for some sort of image of identification, so he submitted that as well.
“Look, Daddy,” Kenny said with a grin, and held up a picture. “This is you, and me, and Cindy.”
“What about Jamie? Are you going to add him?” Todd asked, and Kenny pulled the picture back, quickly adding another figure right next to him. “What are we doing?”
Kenny giggled. “Kissing.” He continued laughing.
Todd rolled his eyes. “Why are he and I kissing?”
“Because you want to, I can tell.” He giggled again, and Todd wondered where this came from. There were times when Kenny surprised him, especially when it came to other people,but this was like having his mind read by a five-year-old—scary as all hell.
“How can you tell?”
“When you look at him, your eyes go gooey. Grandma told me that was how you know when someone loves you, and you kiss the people you love. Right, Daddy?” Sometimes kids take leaps of logic that are hilarious, and other times they are so on the ball, it was frightening. This was definitely one of the latter.
“Yes, I guess that’s right,” Todd agreed, and made a big production of kissing Kenny’s cheek, which then turned into a raspberry that had his son laughing. Todd got up and chased Kenny around the room with Cindy barking excitedly. He lifted Kenny into his arms and swung him around before blowing on his belly. Todd would never ever get used to or stop loving the sound of his son’s laughter.
A key in the front door made him stop. The door opened, and Jamie came inside. “It sounds like you two had quite a day.” He set his bag down in the chair by the door.
“The bad man came, but Daddy and I stayed away,” Kenny said.
Jamie grew serious. “Again?”
“Yeah. We were out, and he came to the house. Your neighbor got him to leave. I had to get my papers and things so I could apply for jobs, so we took a walk, and he was there when we were coming back.”
Kenny ran to the table, grabbed his picture, and took it to Jamie. “That’s Daddy, and me, and you, and Cindy,” he said happily.
Jamie lifted his gaze, eyebrows arched. “It’s really good. I love it. Can I put it on the fridge?” Kenny handed it to him, and Jamie used magnets to attach it. Then he joined them at the table, sitting right across from Todd, and got out his computer.
“I applied for jobs at six places,” Todd said. “Once I had my IDs and stuff, it was easy, and I had references from my past job. I just had to look things up on the internet.”
“What email address did you use?”
“I got a Gmail,” Todd said. “The first one was tough, because I had to set everything up. I needed email, and my identification. I needed a phone number, so I used yours because it was all I had.”
“That’s fine.” Jamie rubbed his forehead.
“Did I do something wrong?” He asked.
Jamie shook his head. “No, you didn’t. Not at all. They have to have a way of contacting you, and you have to have a phone number. But that means that you could get a call while I’m at work. And those kinds of calls are ones you want to take right away. But we’ll make it work.” He stood, went to the kitchen, and rummaged in a drawer. “Yes. And I have the charger.” Jamie returned and plugged in a cord, then set a phone on the table. “I got a new phone at work, so I transferred my number. I almost forgot I had this one. If it still works and takes a charge, then I can activate it, and you’ll have a phone of your own.”
All Todd could see were more things he needed, more barriers to entry. Thank God he had made the decision to let Jamie see him, to trust that when he saw him, Jamie would help. But he wondered how much longer he could count on this help. “Thanks.”
Jamie fiddled with the phone and then smiled. “It’s taking a charge and coming up. I can add it to my Wi-Fi so you can use it, but it won’t accept or make calls.”
Todd glanced at Kenny, who was engrossed in his picture. “Do you want to watch cartoons?” he asked. Kenny climbed down, turned on the television, and found what he wanted.
Jamie stared at him, his lips curling upward slightly. Then he closed the cover of his computer. “Okay, tell me what’s bothering you.”
