Page 14 of Good Half Gone

I knocked, still looking at them…looking for my sister’s shoes. The door swung wide, and a woman in a dirty black baseball cap stood staring at me. She was wearing a Farmer’s Market polo with a badge that saidManager Ruth. I’d seen her behind the counter shaving turkey and scooping macaroni salad into containers.

“What?” She ducked her chin, her eyes grazing over my face like she was seeing something nasty. She looked like a female version of her son.

“Is Dupont home—I mean Chris?”

Her scowl only got deeper; she grabbed the doorknob with one hand and cocked the other on her hip.

I asked again, in a way Gran would approve of. “Ma’am, may I please speak to Chris? It’s very important.”

“Are you pregnant?”

Her question hit, and I was unarmed. Mouth open, I blinked at her a few seconds before violently shaking my head. “No, ma’am.”

She slammed the door in my face, but I heard her calling, “Someone at the door for you, Chris. Get your ass out here.”

When the door opened again, Dupont looked surprised to see me. He was still wearing the same ridiculous outfit he’d had on earlier.

“Whadduwant?” He smelled like weed.

“Where’s Piper?” I looked him over closely like Piper’s whereabouts were hidden somewhere on his body.

We shared the slab of concrete in front of the door; food smells were starting to drift out of the windows, and I realized with dismay that I was hungry. How could my body think of eating right now?

Dupont was wiry but he was a lot taller than me. I stared up at the smattering of pimples along his jaw and knew with certainty that he knew something. He was being shady. His eyes were darting between me and the street.

I looked over my shoulder and saw the glow of Prius headlights.

“Who the fuck is that?” He stared toward Gran’s car, the muscles in his jaw jumping. He was acting strung out, and when I looked closer, I saw that his pupils were dime-sized.

“Chill out, dude,” I said quietly. “It’s my grandmother.”

Dupont shot another suspicious look at the car and wiped his nose with the back of his sleeve.

“I don’t know where your fucking sister is.”

“Bullshit!” I’d seen the way he was talking to RJ and Angel or whoever those guys were. He knew them. “Come on, Chris…”

He narrowed his eyes at me when I used his first name.

“She’s my sister, man. Those guys you set her up with put her in a car and drove away. She’s missing.”

“I didn’t set her up with those guys. Colby came to me asking about her, just like I said. I hooked him up, but I don’t know him like that, and I definitely don’t know his friends.” He was lying. I could see it all over him like a nervous jitter.

“Then what was in it for you?”

He shrugged. “I help out, that’s what I do.”

“You don’t help out for free…”

I got the feeling he wanted to hit me as he tucked his hands in the pockets of his pants, staring at a spot over my shoulder. He wasn’t going to tell me anything. Had I really expected him to? Kids like Chris Dupont worked for themselves. I had nothing to offer him, no trade to make.

“I just need to find those guys…Angel and RJ. They have Piper. I’ll owe you one, okay?” What did that mean—to Dupont…to me? I knew what Piper meant when she said it, but I was small and weird, and my lips were always chapped. I felt stupid and ashamed right after I said it, but he wasn’t looking at me, he was fixated on Gran’s headlights. I wished she’d just turn them off.

Dupont’s jaw started working as he backed into the house. “You called the police already,” he said. “They called. You think I’m stupid? Now get the fuck out of here!”

Fearful, I backed up until my heels bumped against the pile of shoes. Out of the corner of my eye I saw movement through the living room window—his mother. In seconds he’d be slamming the door in my face.If I knew anything about moms, it was that they didn’t want the cops called on their kids.

“You either tell me something or I’m going to the police again. I’m not kidding, Dupont!” I raised my voice, standing on tiptoe so my words could reach his mother. Sound travels in small houses.

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