Ghost Time

said, Things about that boy, and I knew they were talking about Cam, but I go, What boy? And they go, The boy who’s missing. Your friend, they said. We saw him. Right away, I go, When? When did you see him? I said, and my heart started pounding so loud, I swear they must have heard. They go, That day. The day he disappeared, they said in metallic unison, and I said, Tell me. What did you see?
    They go, We saw him get in his car and drive away, and Isaid, How do you know? And they go, We were playing outside. In our yard, they said, and if I hadn’t been so upset, I would’ve been totally freaked that these kids talk entirely in unison, like every word. Still, I go, Did you tell anyone? No, they said. I said, No one? No, they said. Not even your Mom? I said, and they repeated: No one. Good, I said, don’t. Ever. It’s not safe, you understand? Yes, they said in unison, staring me right in the eye. I said, Did he come back? They shook their heads, and I go, Are you sure ? And they said, Yes, and I said, How can you be sure? And they go, Because we don’t like him. He drove off, and then the car came back, they said. Wait, you saw him drive back? I said, and they go, No, just the car, not the boy.
    My stomach was in my throat, thinking maybe Cam came back to tell me something, like Foley said, or maybe he was coming to warn me. When? I said. When did the car come back? Later, they said, and I was like, An hour, two hours? No, in the night, they said, and I go, Don’t lie to me, and they both raised their voices: It’s true! We woke up, and we saw his car, and he got out of the car, but then another car came and that boy ran away, they said. I go, What time was it? And they go, Told you: it was late, and I go, What were you doing out of bed? And they go, We had to pee, and I didn’t even want to think about that. Okay, but the other car, was it like an SUV? I said, and they said, Yes. An SUV, they said, nodding in unison. Could you see in the windows? I said, and they shook their heads. No, the twins said. It was all black; the windows, too, they said, and then I about screamed, because Mason honked the horn,behind us. I didn’t even notice he’d pulled up, right behind me, the whole bus was waiting.
    Mason opened the bus’s sliding door, and said: Morning, kids! My hands were shaking when I got on the bus, and my hands were still shaking after school. I thought about them all day long, but then, just as I was getting on the bus, I heard a voice calling me, Hey, Thea! Thea! I turned around, and it was Ricky. He never takes the bus. He’s had to deal with so much bullying, his mom always drives him to school and picks him up after, but anyhow.
    He was out of breath, running to catch me, and I said, Hey, what’s up? And right away, he goes, There’s something I didn’t tell you about my dream. I didn’t know what dream, and he said, My seizure, remember what I was telling you? It was a seizure, but it was like waking up in a dream. And in the dream, I was in this empty house somewhere. There was nothing in the house, no furniture, nothing, but all the walls were tagged, everywhere, he said. And as soon as he said that, I got the chills. Then he goes, I didn’t tell you that when I stepped back—when I was in that empty house, and I stepped back, looking at all the graffiti on the walls, it was like that art thing, what do you call it? Like when up close it’s just dots but you step away and you see what the picture really is? Impressionism, I said, and he said, Yeah, that. When I stepped back, looking at all the 1s and 0s, I could see what it said. It was a word, see, the entire wall was one big word, and I said, What word? Ricky furrowed his brow like it was the craziest thing, and he said, Forever. The wall said, FOREVER. My mouth fell wide open, and Ialmost screamed when Mason yelled, Yo! Thea, let’s get a move on! Because everyone was waiting on me, the whole bus, and I couldn’t speak. I said, I, I… I’ve got to go, I’ll talk to you later, Ricky. Later, he said, turning, walking away.
    By the time I sat down, I’d forgotten all about the IV Babies, what they said about seeing Cam. I just sat there, slumped in my seat, flipping back and forth, looking at all the pages of 1s and 0s he’d drawn, remembering what Cam told me it really said. At first I thought maybe if I took a picture of each page, I could print them all out, assemble them, like Ricky said, see if it was true, but I didn’t