and by the gym, which makes the walk twice as long.
But then we stop at the same doors that I saw Max and Mrs Patterson enter through last week. We’re behind the auditorium now, in a hallway that doesn’t have classrooms or offices, but Mrs Patterson still looks left and right before she opens the door. Then she places her hand on Max’s back to nudge him outside. Max is walking out the door on his own, but Mrs Patterson wants Max to move faster, and this makes me nervous. It’s like she needed him to pass through the doors quickly before someone saw him.
Something is not right.
I try to follow. But as Max walks down the cement path toward the parking lot, he turns and looks at me. I’m standing outside now, too. He looks at me and shakes his head back and forth. I know what this means. It means No way, José.
He doesn’t want me to follow him. Then he waves me back with his hand.
He wants me to go back inside the school.
I almost always do what Max asks me to do, because that is sort of my job. He needs my help, and so I give it to him. There have been other times when he has asked to be alone, like when he’s reading a book or making a poop. Lots of times, in fact. But this time is different. I know it. Max is not supposed to be outside the school, and he is most definitely not supposed to be going out these side doors toward the parking lot.
Something is not right.
I go back inside like Max has told me to, but I stand against the wall beside the doors, so I can peek out. Max and Mrs Patterson are walking in the parking lot now, in the aisle between the parked cars. I think these are the teachers’ cars, since the kids can’t drive. They must be. Then I see Max and Mrs Patterson stop next to a small, blue car. Mrs Patterson looks around again. It’s the kind of looking around that someone does when they want to make sure no one is watching. Then she opens up the back door of the car and Max climbs in. Mrs Patterson looks around again before getting into the front seat. The side with the steering wheel. The side where the person who is driving sits.
She is driving away with Max.
Except she’s not. The car isn’t moving. They are sitting in the car. Max is in the back seat. Mrs Patterson is in the front. Mrs Patterson is talking, I think, and Max keeps ducking his head down. Not to hide, but to look at something on the seat, I think. He looks busy. He is doing something.
A moment later Mrs Patterson steps out of the car and looks around again. She is making sure that no one is watching. I know it. I have been around too many people who do not know that I’m watching them to know when someone is being sneaky, and Mrs Patterson is being sneaky. Then she opens the door for Max and he steps out, too. Together, they walk back to the doors. Mrs Patterson uses a key to unlock the doors and they come back in again. I take a few steps down the hall, away from the doors, and I sit with my back against the wall so that Max will think that I have been here the whole time. Not watching.
I want him to think that I don’t know where he and Mrs Patterson went, and, more important, I want him to think I don’t care. I do not want him to suspect that I am worried, because the next time Mrs Patterson takes Max out to her car, I am going, too.
If Mrs Patterson takes him out to her car again (and I think she will), it won’t be the same as this time. I don’t know what it will be, but it will be more. It will be worse. I know it. Mrs Patterson wouldn’t break the rules for five minutes in her car with Max. Something else is going to happen.
I can’t explain it, but I’m more worried about Mrs Patterson than I am about Tommy Swinden now.
A lot more worried.
CHAPTER 18
We are sitting inside Dr Hogan’s office. Dr Hogan is smart. Max has been here for a long time and Dr Hogan has not tried to make him talk once. She has been sitting here, watching him play with these plastic and metal pieces that she called
But then we stop at the same doors that I saw Max and Mrs Patterson enter through last week. We’re behind the auditorium now, in a hallway that doesn’t have classrooms or offices, but Mrs Patterson still looks left and right before she opens the door. Then she places her hand on Max’s back to nudge him outside. Max is walking out the door on his own, but Mrs Patterson wants Max to move faster, and this makes me nervous. It’s like she needed him to pass through the doors quickly before someone saw him.
Something is not right.
I try to follow. But as Max walks down the cement path toward the parking lot, he turns and looks at me. I’m standing outside now, too. He looks at me and shakes his head back and forth. I know what this means. It means No way, José.
He doesn’t want me to follow him. Then he waves me back with his hand.
He wants me to go back inside the school.
I almost always do what Max asks me to do, because that is sort of my job. He needs my help, and so I give it to him. There have been other times when he has asked to be alone, like when he’s reading a book or making a poop. Lots of times, in fact. But this time is different. I know it. Max is not supposed to be outside the school, and he is most definitely not supposed to be going out these side doors toward the parking lot.
Something is not right.
I go back inside like Max has told me to, but I stand against the wall beside the doors, so I can peek out. Max and Mrs Patterson are walking in the parking lot now, in the aisle between the parked cars. I think these are the teachers’ cars, since the kids can’t drive. They must be. Then I see Max and Mrs Patterson stop next to a small, blue car. Mrs Patterson looks around again. It’s the kind of looking around that someone does when they want to make sure no one is watching. Then she opens up the back door of the car and Max climbs in. Mrs Patterson looks around again before getting into the front seat. The side with the steering wheel. The side where the person who is driving sits.
She is driving away with Max.
Except she’s not. The car isn’t moving. They are sitting in the car. Max is in the back seat. Mrs Patterson is in the front. Mrs Patterson is talking, I think, and Max keeps ducking his head down. Not to hide, but to look at something on the seat, I think. He looks busy. He is doing something.
A moment later Mrs Patterson steps out of the car and looks around again. She is making sure that no one is watching. I know it. I have been around too many people who do not know that I’m watching them to know when someone is being sneaky, and Mrs Patterson is being sneaky. Then she opens the door for Max and he steps out, too. Together, they walk back to the doors. Mrs Patterson uses a key to unlock the doors and they come back in again. I take a few steps down the hall, away from the doors, and I sit with my back against the wall so that Max will think that I have been here the whole time. Not watching.
I want him to think that I don’t know where he and Mrs Patterson went, and, more important, I want him to think I don’t care. I do not want him to suspect that I am worried, because the next time Mrs Patterson takes Max out to her car, I am going, too.
If Mrs Patterson takes him out to her car again (and I think she will), it won’t be the same as this time. I don’t know what it will be, but it will be more. It will be worse. I know it. Mrs Patterson wouldn’t break the rules for five minutes in her car with Max. Something else is going to happen.
I can’t explain it, but I’m more worried about Mrs Patterson than I am about Tommy Swinden now.
A lot more worried.
CHAPTER 18
We are sitting inside Dr Hogan’s office. Dr Hogan is smart. Max has been here for a long time and Dr Hogan has not tried to make him talk once. She has been sitting here, watching him play with these plastic and metal pieces that she called
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