Ghost Time

then I got out of the car, but before I closed the door, Knox leaned over and he goes, Thea? I leaned in, and I was just like, Yeah? I could tell he wasn’t sure he should tell me, but then he did. He nodded once, like he couldn’t believe it, andthen he said, I used to sing that to her, when Melody was a baby. That song “It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue.” I didn’t know any lullabies, so I sang the songs I knew, and she loved that song—I mean, I think she did, he said. Then I knew what she was saying, why she told me to tell him that. I go, She did love it—you should sing it to her again—she knows all the words, you know? He looked down, not knowing what to say, so I closed the door.
    Turning around, I almost jumped out of my skin, because I heard a woman’s voice calling me. Like so many voices, I felt insane—I didn’t know if it was Melody or what, and this woman goes, Excuse me, are you Thea Denny? I turned around, and this woman was standing there, over near the stairs. She was pretty, but in a television-pretty way, with lots of hair spray and heavy makeup and a gray pantsuit. She looked so familiar, too, and then I realized who she was, and no wonder there was something TV about her! Her name’s Jenna Darnell, and she’s one of the reporters from WVOX, out of Albany. She’s the reporter they sent here to do that story about the hole in the barrier on the highway and the tire tracks that stop in the middle of the field.
    She smiled, introducing herself, and then she said she was hoping she could ask me a few questions. She said she’d heard about Cam and wondered if his disappearance had anything to do with some of the weird shit that was happening around town—she didn’t say it like that, but that’s what she meant. I looked at Knox for help, and he got out of the car, leaning over his hood. Jenna Darnell looked at him, and you could tell he was going to step in, and then she hands me a card and says, I’m sure this is an incredibly difficult time for you, Thea. But if you ever want to talk aboutit, publicly, she said, and I took the card. Thanks, I said, and I looked at Knox. You’re the woman from the news, right? he asked her, and she smiled. Yes, WVOX, and Knox said, Crazy about the wall, isn’t it? She smiled at me, and then she said, Almost like someone ran right into… nowhere, and I shivered, crossing my arms. Huh, Knox said, smiling. That’s one way of putting it. Nice meeting you, he said, letting her know she could leave now.
    I should go inside, I said to them both, and Knox nodded, opening his door, and Jenna Darnell headed for a white rental car, parked beside our super’s old truck. I went upstairs, unlocked our door, and went inside, and then I just stood at the window, peeking outside, thinking, WTF? I mean, first Melody, and then I literally turn around, and there’s a reporter who wants to talk to me?
    I sat down on the couch, folding my arms around my bag, and then I got a text. I checked my phone—my hearts stops every time I hear my phone—but it was only Karen. She asked if I wanted to have dinner at her place, and I texted her right back: How soon is now? I waited at the window, and when Karen pulled in, I ran downstairs and got in, but we didn’t say anything the whole way. Which is something I love about Karen, that you never have to fill the silences, not at all. I was just happy to be with her, because I feel like she’s the only person who really knows what this week has been like.
    We got to their house and went inside, and first thing, walking into Cam’s house, without him there, my chest just went oomph! I was like, Ohmygod, Karen, how did you get through this week, living here? She saw it, too, the look on my face, but she didn’t say anything. She goes, Dinner’ll be ready in half anhour; why don’t we go sit outside? So I followed her outside, and it’s a little run-down, their house, but they have a big screened-in porch in the back with a porch swing, and I took a seat.
    You know, some nights, doing something as simple as sitting on a porch swing, when the first cricket begins to chirp, getting warmed up for the season, and the air is so clean, it’s almost enough to make you believe people are that clean, too. Of course you know better, but you still give in: you breathe the air; and in that moment, you believe in goodness in your bones. It was chilly, though, so Karen pulled out a blanket and covered me, such a mom, tucking the