I hand the creased paper to Evie
she munches the last of the chips
wipes her hands on her shorts
folds her arms in a sort of hug
take that as a no
thrust my arm into my backpack
searching for bribery material
fingers wedge in a gooey gritty mess
brain flash:
“I’ll give you my dessert tonight,
if you deliver this.”
“Okay.”
she tucks the note in her pocket
That was easy. She must know
we’re not having fruit for dessert.
follow her
trying to scrape out the grossness
under all my nails
on the front step
Dad and guilty looking Evie
stand on the driveway
“We’re going to play catch,”
she says loudly even for her
she licks her lips
grab my glove and ball
from inside the door
Dad points:
“Stay away from that house.”
Evie swivels:
“That old broken-down thing?”
“It looks like someone’s been
snooping around over there.”
he nods at the flattened path of grass
“Catch, Evie.”
throw the ball to her
she misses it
right on cue
chases the ball
into the flat grass path
wait for Dad to close the front door
Evie pushes down the flag
plants the rock on the note
curtain in the living room parts
Dad’s face hovers in the window.