While I was at the Mason house, Annie went into my room and I wasn’t there. She didn’t tell Aunt Maeve or Crazy Uncle Rufus, though, thank God. So I had to tell Annie where I was, which is why she wants to tag along this afternoon. Anyway, I promised Joanna I would bring her over for a visit. And this time, I vow to myself, I will tell Mrs. Mason the truth about me and Benny.
Mango starts with the barking even before I knock on the door. I can tell from the way she’s taking it all in that Annie’s eyes are not missing the rundown condition of the fence and front yard.
The door opens. Mango stops barking.
Mrs. Mason, smiling. “Hello, Charley. You’ve brought your sister. How nice. Come in, both of you.”
Once inside, she says to Annie, “I’m Joanna. And I already know your name, Annie. Charley told me about you.” Rico appears and clutches his ma’s leg, same as before. “This is Rico.”
“Hello, Rico.”
“And this is Mango.”
“Hi, Mango.” Annie pats the dog.
“Come on in. Do you like chocolate chip cookies?” Mrs. Mason asks Annie. “They’re homemade.”
“Oh, yes.” Annie smiles. “Chocolate’s my favorite. I’d even eat spinach if it was dipped in chocolate. Charley said you’ve got kittens. Could I see them?”
“Of course. They’re in the kitchen. Come on in.”
“Mrs. Mason,” I say, “could I call Aunt Maeve to let her know we’re here?”
“Charley, you must call me Joanna. We’re friends, right? There’s a phone in the kitchen on the wall.”
Aunt Maeve doesn’t mind us staying. “So long as I know where you are,” she says. “Home before dinner, okay?”
Annie loves Pineapple and her kittens. Then after a while she examines the trolls and goblins.
“Can I pick them up?” she asks Joanna.
“Of course, but be gentle with them. They break easily. And don’t let the kittens near them.”
“I won’t,” Annie promises. “I’ll be very extra careful.” She doesn’t seem to mind the gargoyles.
Annie talks to Mango and plays with the dolls, having conversations with them, and lies on the floor among Rico’s plastic toys and talks to the kittens. She asks Joanna if the dolls and the kittens have got names and when Joanna says no, she starts making up names for them, making Rico giggle.
Mrs. Mason and Annie like each other right away, I can tell, because Mrs. Mason talks to Annie about how she likes her hair and blah-blah-blah, typical girl stuff, back and forth. They talk together so much I don’t get a chance for a private word with Mrs. Mason.
It turns out that the bedroom — Rico’s and Benny’s — has got lots of troll figures, too. They’re sitting on bookshelves and the chest of drawers and on the bedside tables.
Also on the chest of drawers there’s a framed picture of Benny with Mango. Benny is kneeling, Mango clasped to his chest.
As we leave, Joanna says, “Come whenever you can, okay? We love to see you, don’t we, Rico? We don’t get out to meet people very much.”
We stayed too long. Already it’s beginning to get dark. Annie is dawdling. I grab the sleeve of her jacket to hurry her along.
There’s a man walking over on the other side of the road, approaching us. I’m sure it’s the scary guy again, the one with the black beard.
It’s himself, all right. As he draws closer he stares across at us — or at Annie, more like, and then he turns quickly away into an alley so all I can see is his back retreating.
“Did you see that feller, Annie?”
“Yes, why?”
“No reason, except I don’t like the look of him. Come on.” I pull on her arm, hurrying her along even faster than before. “Let’s move it, okay?”
Man with the black beard.
Blackbeard!
The air seems suddenly twenty degrees colder.