Page 47 of Keeping It Professional

Joey said something, and I heard Sophie laugh.

“No, hon. It’s winter. I promise, no ants.”

For a while, I heard nothing from inside the tree. Sophie shifted, then hissed, and I saw her back was cricked, canted all sideways to fit up the crack. It hurt just to look at, but she squirmed in deeper.

“It’s okay. Keep digging. Feel anything yet?”

Joey sniffled and sobbed. Sophie kept talking. I could hear the strain creeping into her voice. I knelt down beside her.

“You want to switch out?”

Her head was jammed up the tree, so she shook her foot no. She was telling Joey a story about when she was a kid, when she got stuck in a concrete pipe on the playground. I doubted it was true, but she made it funny, and every so often, I heard Joey giggle.

“Pretty funny, right? That’s it. Keep digging. You know what my mom said, when she pulled me out?”

Joey yelled “ow!” Sophie went tense.

“Hon? You okay? Talk to me, Joey.”

“Pins and needles,” he screamed. “Owwwwwwww,pins and needles!”

Laughter went up, and sighs of relief. I reached to help Sophie up, but she stayed in the tree. She stayed as Joey screamed through his pins and needles, and through his blind panic when he felt a bug. She talked and she sang to him till the scanner arrived, and kept Joey calm as they set it up. She only pulled out when it was time for the saw. The press had showed up by then, and they thrust their mics in. Sophie ignored them, massaging her back.

“You’re soaking,” I said, as she stood up. She looked down at her pants, where the mud had bled through.

“I’ll get changed in a minute.”

“You should do it now. It’ll take them a while to saw through that tree.”

Sophie didn’t move. She fixed her eyes on the saw. We both watched, hardly breathing, as they cut through the trunk, stopping every few seconds to check their bearings. Joey’s dad drifted over to stand next to us.

“It must be so loud in there. He must be so scared.”

“He’s a brave kid,” said Sophie, but her voice shook. A tall, blonde reporter had set up behind us, and now she turned to the camera and took a deep breath.

“I’m here on the scene at Elm and Fourth, where a six-year-old child is trapped high in a tree trunk, and firefighters are working to set him free. Right now, they’re cutting a window, and through that window, they’ll soon lift him out. This has been a truly high-tech rescue, involving sonar imaging to map out the tree, and precise calculations on where to cut. One inch too deep, and?—”

“Oh, would you shut up?” Sophie stepped in front of the camera, blocking its view. “I’m sorry, but I need you all to step back. We need the scene clear and quiet, so?—”

“We’re behind the caution tape.” The cameraman sidestepped. Sophie held out her arms, barring his way.

“I’m moving the tape. You need to get back.” She took the tape by one end and strode back from the scene, shooing the camera crew along with her.

“We have a right to be here!”

“Behind the tape.” Sophie tied it up again a good six feet back, out of earshot of Joey’s dad. She’d just turned back when there came a greatcrack, and a section split off from the side of thetree. Joey’s dad yelled. The reporters leaned in. A small, dirty hand reached out of the tree, then two flailing arms in a red coat.

Cameras flashed as Joey crawled out, into the firefighters’ waiting arms. I glanced over at Sophie, and she was covered in mud, flecked with wood chips from head to toe. Her hair had come loose and hung in wet knots. Her nose and her ears were red, her eyes wet with tears. She was half-laughing, clapping her hands, and I’d never seen anyone so lovely or perfect.

How could anyone be this lovely? This perfect?

Brian flopped back in his seat as my ball hit the gutter.

“I don’t believe you,” he said.

“Bad day, I guess.”

He got up, rolled a strike, and watched the pins fall. The arm came down and scooped them back up. “Didn’t you just say life’s going great? You’re happy with Sophie. You’re happy at work. So what’s with the dark cloud over your head? You’re moping around like your doggie just died.”

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