Death Before Facebook

camped it up. Sure enough, the comers of Darryl’s eyes were crinkling; in some mysterious way that had never happened with Steve, Darryl and Jimmy Dee had taken instantly to each other. But she didn’t have time to marvel about it. “Did you call the police?”
    “Yes, and they said they’d keep an eye out. Someone came over and talked to me; that was about that. And of course I couldn’t leave because of Kenny.”
    “Where would she go?” Skip knew the runaway scene pretty well, thanks to the same little Melody she’d seen tonight. There was a whole circuit, complete with bars that catered to the underage crowd.
    But not that many thirteen-year-olds. Sheila was too young even to be noticed by most kids on the streets.
    The thought of her out there made Skip shiver. Kids wouldn’t notice her, but adults would. The wrong kind of adults.
    Dee-Dee said, “She doesn’t really have any friends, but I called everyone I could think of.”
    “Did you check my house? And the courtyard?”
    “I took the liberty. You don’t mind, do you?’
    “Good God, Dee-Dee.” Each had a key to the other’s place and they went in and out like family members.
    Skip caught Darryl’s eye and saw that his whole demeanor had changed. With the merriment gone from his face, he looked incalculably sad; melancholy in a way that made Skip want to tell jokes and chatter and make soup all at once to cheer him up. “We got to get out there,” he said.
    “Oh, Darryl, it isn’t your problem. Why don’t you go home and I’ll go look for her?”
    “I’m not sleepy. I’ll go with you.”
    Jimmy Dee said, “Somebody has to stay with Kenny.” She could see he was itching to get out there, but they couldn’t leave Darryl to babysit—he might be a Boucree, but he was still a stranger—and Jimmy Dee wasn’t the right person to find Sheila, of that Skip was pretty sure.
    “I think it’s got to be you, Dad. I hate to say it, but right now I think Sheila might be happier to see Auntie than Uncle Jimmy. What did you fight about by the way?’
    “The proper way to eat spaghetti. She favored the two-finger method.”
    Darryl said, “One dinner I’m glad I missed.”
    “I’m going to take a quick spin around her room.”
    The bed was unmade, but that meant nothing—she might not have made it that day, or she might have gone to bed for a little while. Skip looked around for coats—a fleece-lined jean jacket was all that was missing. And Sheila had been wearing jeans that afternoon.
    “Okay, Dee-Dee, we’re out of here. Darryl, do you really want to come?”
    He nodded. “ ’Course I’m coming.”
    Truth to tell, she would have been disappointed if he’d given any other answer. After seeing that look of utter sadness, she knew there was only one way it was going to fade. A man who could look that way about a missing child wasn’t going to get any sleep if he went home.
    They could see their breath when they stepped out on St. Philip. “Okay, let’s think. I couldn’t stand to talk about it in front of Dee-Dee.”
    “Do I have to call him that?”
    She couldn’t help smiling. “Quit making me laugh. They say over at Covenant House that runaways don’t run to anything, they just run away.”
    “Would she go to Covenant House?”
    “I doubt she’s ever heard of it. But if she did, they can keep her for a while without letting anyone know. I think we better try the streets.”
    “Would she try to go anywhere?”
    “Like back to Minneapolis? She hasn’t got anything back there, and she hasn’t got money. I guess that’s what she’d need first.”
    “If she had a plan. My guess is she didn’t. She just split.”
    Saying to herself, ‘Everyone hates me and they’ll all be sorry.’
    They turned right on Bourbon Street. “She’d walk towards Canal Street, towards the people. Did you ever run away?”
    “Uh-uh,” said Darryl. “I was happy. You?”
    “Oh, yes. Several times, for about half an hour. I thought you might have, since you mentioned not having a plan. I always went home because I couldn’t think what to do next.”
    “It was probably quiet and dark on the street where you grew up; here, it isn’t quite so scary. But even if you weren’t scared out of your wits, you’d have to find some place to hide.”
    “Either that or depend on the kindness of strangers.”
    Despite his promise, he took her hand. “Try not to think about that.”
    They walked silently for a while, looking in doorways,