Why hadn’t he called?I was so upset at him, and he only made me angrier by not reaching out after all this time.
I checked the call history on the home phone, but there was nothing.
By 6 p.m., my car drove itself to Miles’s house.Not me.Not by my will.My car.Yeah, it sounded better if I said it like that.
It was silly.Ridiculous.Nonsense.Wasn’t life too fragile for these kinds of disappearances?I felt like screaming at him the second he opened the door.And I didn’t usually scream.But I would tell him to stop whatever he was doing and just talk to me.I wanted him to want to resolve our unresolved argument.
I rang the bell at the gate and waited.Silence.Not a single light flickered in the house, no shadow peeked through the windows.No one showed up.
Then I noticed Miles’s mom’s car wasn’t there.
Maybe they were dining out.Maybe they were just around the corner.
But they weren’t.
After 45 minutes, I ended up going home.
“Ella?Want to help me with dinner?”my sister asked as soon as I entered our home.
“Sure,” I replied, heading straight to the kitchen to wash my hands.I turned off the water and glanced at the refrigerator door, where my mother attached the latest art collages my brothers had made yesterday using advertising flyers.Colorful doodles, paper cut-outs, and lots of liquid glue.They’d come up with the idea while we were driving back from our family summer vacation.
“The first time ever they ran to the mailbox before me,” I murmured to myself, a small smile tugging at my lips.I had always been the mail messenger; it was funny to see them excited and ecstatic about advertising flyers.
“What?”My sister grabbed a pan to grill the chicken steaks.
“Oh, nothing.”I spread the olive oil over it.
She gave me a sympathetic look, then said something I wasn’t expecting to hear, “Is this because Miles left town?”
I froze.“What?”I asked, surprised and hurt.
“You haven’t talked to me about it all month, but I heard yesterday that he already left for college.I thought maybe you felt sad because you’ll miss him,” she said, her voice soft with concern.“Want to talk about it?”
I shook my head and returned a fond smile to her.I could talk to my sister, tell her I had no idea what she had just mentioned.She would listen, be the most supportive shoulder to lean on.But something inside me ached, and it made me want to remain silent.
Chapter 30
Ella
August 4th, 1999
Wednesday
The next morning, I passed the restaurant where Miles’s mom worked, on my way to the Village Oven to buy some bread and croissants for my family.I decided to go in.A really quick stop.
I leaned against the counter and asked Gunter if Miles’s mom was working that day, or if he could tell me when her next shift was.He looked at me, tilting his head.
“Miss Neblina no longer works here, Ella.”
“Really?”I asked.“Do you know where she’s working now?”
Gunter shook his head.
Oh.
Then I guess I will have to keep making detours past their house if I want to talk to her.
“She quit her job and moved out of town just a few days ago,” Gunter said, almost as if he were reading my mind.“She didn’t mention where.”
