Page 49 of Tamiko and the Two Janitors
“Uh-oh. Worlds collide. Probably for the best, in thiscase.”A smile warmed his voice.“Hey, does this mean Tami talks aboutus at home?”
Jiminy, who’d caught on, pushed for an answer. “Kip, are youat the school?”
“Yep. It’s beauty night at Landmark Elementary. We’ll behere ’til all hours, sudsing the terrazzo.”
“She’s on her way,” Melissa warned. “How long have we beentalking? She might already be there!”
Jiminy groaned. “Kip, are you … comfy?”
Something clattered on the other end of the line, and Kipswore softly.
The call abruptly ended.
TWENTY
We All Fall
Tami pushed her speed even thoughshe was worried that leaving Biddie would strain their nascent bond. Was thistension a symptom of something going on in her soul, or was she stressed forcompletely ordinary reasons? Like inadvertently betraying a family secret.
“It will be fine.” Joe had promised to look in on Biddie.She could be home again in under an hour. “Ten minutes on the computer. That’sall I need.”
To her dismay, Coach was still in the parking lot.
What were Ash and Kip doing here so late?
Determined to get in and out with drawing attention toherself, she splashed to the side entrance and paused to tighten her ponytail.She’d be quick. She’d be quiet. The last thing she wanted now was for Ash tosee her looking a wreck. She’d dressed in the dark—lavender yoga pants, ashrunken tee promoting a past year’s corn maze, one of Joe’s quilted flannelshirts in lieu of a jacket, and a battered pair of slipper flats thatdefinitely leaked. Counting on the cover of darkness and a quick getaway, she’dcut every possible corner. Which meant she wasn’t even wearing a bra.
Tami rested her forehead against the cold metal of the door.“Please, please, please let them be on the other side of the building,” shewhispered. Gathering the necessary resolve, she slid her key into the lock,opened the door far enough to assess the long, empty hallway, flung the doorwide, and took off at a sprint.
Only after it was too late did it register that the floorswereextrashiny.
And there were soap bubbles clustered on its gleamingsurface.
And that her shoes not only had holes, they had zerotraction.
With a yip of surprise, Tami’s feet flew out from under her,and she hit the floor with enough force to send her into oblivion
Someone was talking. Were theytalking to her?
“–mi? Tami!”
Why was it so hard to open her eyes? Light and dark swirledone way, then reversed. She blinked a few times, and a face swam into focus.Ash. He looked scared.
“Are you okay?”
She could hardly hear his voice over the roaring in her earsand hoped in a detached way that she wouldn’t be sick in front of him. Or onhim.
He touched her so gently, testing bones, checking pulse. Heshouted something urgent, but Tami was more interested in the warm hand at hershoulder. This might be the first time he’d touched her. So standoffish.
And then Kip was there—all vivid freckles and fur. No, itmust be his hair. Red hair. His hand was inherhair, gently probing,and she squinted, trying to understand the sensation that whispered forattention. But the pain was louder.
Tami felt bad. Worry looked all wrong on Kip’s face. He wassupposed to be smiling, and his eyes should be sparkling. Even his eyes wereall wrong. What was it about his eyes? She blinked slowly, and the strangenesswas gone.
“Trust us,” Kip begged, touching her forehead with the tipof one finger.
When she blinked again, her eyes didn’t open.
“What did you do?” demanded Ash.
