Kate crossed the room to kiss her dad goodbye. He curled an arm around her and handed her a ten-dollar bill. "Have fun."
"Thanks, Daddy."
She and Tully headed down the driveway, swinging their bags beside them.
"Do you think Kenny Markson will be at the fair?" Kate asked.
"You worry too much about boys."
Kate bumped her friend, hip to hip. "He has a crush on you."
"Big whoop. I'm taller."
Suddenly Tully stopped.
"Jeez, Tully, be a spaz, why don'tcha? I almost fell over—"
"Oh, no," Tully whispered.
"What's the matter?"
Then she noticed the police car parked in Tully's driveway.
Tully grabbed Kate's hand and practically dragged her down the driveway, across the street, and to the front door, which stood open.
A policeman was waiting for them in the living room.
When he saw them, his fleshy face pleated into clownlike folds. "Hello, girls. I'm Officer Dan Myers."
"What did she do this time?" Tully asked.
"There was a spotted owl protest up by Lake Quinault that got out of hand yesterday. Your mother and several others staged a sit-in that cost Weyerhaeuser a full day's work. Worse, someone dropped a cigarette in the woods." He paused. "They just got the fire under control."
"Let me guess: she's going to jail."
"Her lawyer is seeking voluntary treatment for drug addiction. If she's lucky, she'll be in the hospital for a while. If not . . ." He let the sentence trail off.
"Has someone called my grandmother?"
The officer nodded. "She's expecting you. Do you need help packing?"
Kate didn't understand what was happening. She turned to her friend. "Tully?"
There was a terrible blankness in Tully's brown eyes, and Kate knew that this was big, whatever it was. "I have to go back to my grandma's," Tully said, then she walked past Kate and went into her bedroom.
Kate ran after her. "Youcan'tgo!"
Tully pulled a suitcase out of the closet and flipped it open. "I don't have any choice."
"I'llmakeyour mother come back. I'll tell her—"
Tully paused in her packing and looked at Kate. "You can't fix this," she said softly, sounding like a grown-up, tired and broken. For the first time, Kate understood the stories about Tully's loser mom. They'd laughed about Cloud, made jokes about her drug use and her fashion sense and her various stories, but it wasn't funny. And Tully had known this would happen.
"Promise me," Tully said, her voice cracking, "that we'll always be best friends."
"Always," was all Kate could say.
Tully finished packing and locked up her suitcase. Saying nothing, she headed back to the living room. On the radio "American Pie" was playing, and Kate wondered if she'd ever be able to listen to that song again without remembering this moment.The day the music died. She followed Tully out to the driveway. There, they clung to each other until Officer Dan gently pulled Tully away.
