Part IV: He Said I Was His Friend

I started towards my house, though I knew, the moment I stepped outside the coffee shop, that I wasn't going home. I went past the Beams',slowed down at the taped off path between their side door and my front door, then I crossed the green,  

I thought I was headed to the Armingtons. That's where I wanted to go. It's where anyone would have thought to look for me.

But I kept walking. Past the Armingtons, the studios, the Goblin Market and Murphy's Fresh, all the way to the opposite end of town: into Cedar Park, across from the swings and the pavilions to the brass elephant sculpture that marked the burial place of Suzio and Lil, and the teenaged sapling growing from Sugar's ashes.

"Hi, Mom," I sai...

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