A Friend at Midnight Read Online Free PDF Page B

will never
refer
to you again. I will never
speak
to you again.”
    Dennis Rosetti laughed.
    Lily flung her cell phone against the wall. It didn’t get damaged. She smashed it to the floor and stomped on it and when she was done she got Nathaniel out of his high chair and held him tight and rocked him and they both sobbed, she in fury and he in fear, and the regular phone rang.
    â€œIt’s me,” said Michael cheerfully. “I’ve found a great spot to hang out. There’s this group of high school kids waiting for their flight, and it’s late, and they’re lying on the carpet and playing cards and computer games. I’m blending in. There are phones everywhere once you really look, Lily. When are you getting here?”
    When was Lily getting where? To BWI? How could she possibly do that?
    The faith in Michael’s voice was like religion, the religion possessed by their grandmother, who never missed church, who believed completely and without any fretting. God is good, she would say, and that seemed to be all she needed.
    Michael’s faith that Lily would come was so complete that Lily got faith too and immediately had a plan.
    When Reb had received her college acceptance, she had also gotten dozens of credit cards in the mail. With Mom’s permission, Reb had activated one, and Mom and Kells talked often about the responsibility of a credit line and what should or should not be charged.
    Lily had done a wrong thing. She had taken one of the cards and activated it herself, picking 3000 for a PIN number, since somebody ought to be using it. So Lily had a credit card in Reb’s name. Lily could charge a plane ticket. In some circles, this would be called credit card fraud.
    If Lily got the bill when it came in the mail, and neither Mom nor Kells ever saw it, and she paid it off out of her savings account, she could actually buy Michael’s ticket for him. One good thing about the divorce—the children got Christmas and birthday checks from three sets of grandparents. Reb spent hers on big-ticket items like a kayak. Michael frittered his away on little things like popcorn at the movies. Lily put hers in the bank.
    â€œHere’s what we do,” she said to Michael. “I phone the airlines. I get you an e-ticket. You fly back alone. Kids fly alone all the time. It’ll be an adventure. Meanwhile, Nate and I grab a bus to LaGuardia and meet you. We’ll be back home long before Mom and Kells are back from Reb’s college. While you wait for me to make my calls, get something to eat.” This was because Michael didn’t waste time on meals (all that sitting around) and ate just enough to take the edge off, which meant he was starving to death ten minutes later. “Have a Happy Meal,” she ordered him, “and call me back in twenty minutes.”
    â€œI don’t have any money.”
    Lily no longer believed any of this. She summarized the situation, because she must have gotten it wrong. “He opened the car door and drove away? And didn’t give you even a dollar? Or a ticket? Or let you pack York?”
    Lily had ripped off his cheerful front by mentioning York. Michael let out one jagged weep.
    â€œIt’s okay,” said Lily quickly. “I’ll call Dad and tell him to airmail York right now. I won’t let him do anything to York.”
    She had just resolved never to speak to the snake again, or admit that he even existed, and now she had to call and beg. She couldn’t wait, because a man willing to throw out his kid would drive straight home to throw out the stuffed bear.
    Nathaniel was beginning to cry now too. He hated raised voices, which he rarely heard and which frightened him. Lily shoved the high chair next to the refrigerator. Nate loved to peel the magnets off.
    â€œDon’t call Dad,” said Michael urgently.
    â€œHe’s got York, though,” Lily pointed out.
    â€œLily?” whispered