"Not much. Jerri used to keep a diary, remember?"

"Yes."

"I've been looking for it."

"You haven't found it?"

"No. I did find out stuff though."

"Like what?"

"Jerri won't tell the truth. You ask her a question, and she'll go crazy."

"Why?"

"I don't know. She doesn't want us to know anything about Dad though."

"Why?"

"I think because she lied about him."

"Lied? About what?"

"That he was nice."

"Why do you say that?"

"I found a photo album from their wedding."

"With Dad in it?" I really hadn't seen a picture of Dad since Jerri's bonfire. I had an idea of what he looked like, vague memories. I imagined he looked like the comedian Paul Reiser but also knew that probably wasn't right. "You saw Dad?"

Andrew nodded at me. "Yes. He was in their wedding pictures."

"Makes sense."

"Yes. But"a"Andrew squinted at mea""he looked like you."

"What? Before I got big?"

"No. Like you now."

"But he was short."

"Maybe, but his face looked like your face."

"My face?"

"Jerri might hate your face, Felton."

"Why? Why would Jerri hate my face?"

"I'm very sure Jerri hates Dad," Andrew said.

"No. No, she doesn't. He was a sweet, little Jewish dude. He wasaHe was just sad. Why would Jerri hatea?" I began to lose my train of thought, and my chin started trembling. "What, Andrew? What?"

"I don't think he was sweet," Andrew said. "He looked really mean in the pictures."

"At his wedding?"

"He wasn't smiling. He wasaHe looked really, really angry." Andrew started crying.

"Where's the album?"

Andrew said something like "uhhhff," he clamped his mouth shut, and then he said, "I only found it yesterday. It was above her clothes in her closet."

"Was she in there when you found it?"

"Uh huh. She was sleeping."

"Jesus, Andrew. You're crazy."

"I took it to my room and looked at it for a long time and then I wanted to Google Dad because I think I've Googled Steven W. Reinstein and seen actual pictures of him that I didn't know were him, but my computer won't charge, and you wouldn't let me use yours."

"Oh, shit. I'm sorry."

"Then, in the middle of the night, Jerri came barging into my room, screaming at me to stop stealing her stuffa"to stop torturing her. She was completely psycho, Felton. She screamed and pushed me against my wall and then she burned the album in her shower."

"That was last night? I slept through that?"

"I don't care, Felton. I don't care about her stupid diary anymore. I just want this to end."

"Yeah," I nodded.

"I hid in the garden all morning eating tomatoes."

"You hate tomatoes."

"I'm hungry."

"I'm so sorry, Andrew. I'm so sorry." I gulped for air. My eyes burned.

"We're both crying like babies," Andrew said.

"I know," I nodded. "No dignity."

"It's been stolen." Andrew wasn't joking.

We stared out across our yard, tall thistles all over the place. We didn't say anything for several minutes. We both calmed down. Then something occurred to me.

"Grandma Berba knows what happened," I said.

"Why?"

"She was here after Dad died."

"She was? I don't remember."

"You were three."

"You know she hates us," Andrew whispered, looking over his nerd glasses.

"I think we have to call her, Andrew. I think she better come here. If she willa"

"Jerri is going to go out of her mind," he said. "I don't know, Felton."

"Jerri is already out of her mind," I said.

"Yes, but even more so." Then poor Andrew's lip started trembling again, and his face heated up again.

"I miss Jerri."

"I do too," I said.

"I hate Jerri," he whimpered.

"We have to call Grandma Berba. Or if not her, I guess the cops or something."

"Grandma," Andrew nodded.

We discussed what to do next. One thing was very obvious: we couldn't stay in the house anymore. After going through our immediate options (neighbor, Andrew's piano teacher, Cody Fredericka"Andrew had no idea who he was), I suggested the Jenningses.

"You mean Aleah Jennings?" he asked. "Her dad thinks we're nuts. Jerri slept in front of their house."

"I've, uha" I realized that Andrew and I had been so out of touch that he had no clue I'd been with her.

"What, Felton?"

"Aleah's my girlfriend."

"Oh my God," Andrew stared at me. "I forgot she liked you."

"IaI really like her."

"I'm so stupid," Andrew said.

"Do you like her too?"

"Like her?" he asked, tilting his head like he does.

"You know, want her to be your girlfriend," I said.

Andrew gasped, "No! I'm just embarrassed."

"Becausea" I was confused. "You like her?"

"Because I haven't practiced piano in over a month," he mumbled. "I'll be rusty if I play."

"That's the least of our troubles."

And with that, we decided to go to the Jenningses. Mr. Jennings was kind, and I loved Aleah. I was used to that house, and I needed something steady, which would help me call Grandma Berba, anda"maybe most importanta"the Jenningses weren't connected to the town, so they wouldn't tell people about our trouble. If we went to Cody's, the cops and everybody else would be involved from the start.

CHAPTER 44: ESCAPE.

Because it was the middle of the day, I assumed that Aleah would be asleep and Ronald would be at the college. There was nobody around to pick us up, so I'd have to ride the bike, even though that jerk Ken Johnson (sorry) had broken my back. I stayed out in the driveway and tried to stretch, in complete pain. Meanwhile, Andrew ran into the house and pulled a bunch of my sweats out and stuck them in a backpack. There was no reason to pack clothes for him because he only owned his pirate outfit. He did grab our toothbrushes and my deodorant. ("You smell sometimes," he said. "You smell like you haven't showered in a month," I said. "That's fair," he said.) He also grabbed Jerri's address book, which wasn't easy because it was in the desk drawer in her room. He snuck in. She rolled over while he was in there but stayed asleep.

"What in the world would I have said?" he asked. "Felton and I are running away. We'll send Grandma?"

"She would have strangled you," I said.

"With her sweaty sheet," Andrew said.

I laughed.

"It's not funny. It's true," Andrew said.

We began to ride down the drive. Then I stopped.

"Andrew," I said. "We need my phone charger."

"Why?"

"I don't know. I want to keep my life. It's really important to me. The charger's on my night stand."

Andrew was inside for a couple of minutes. When he came out, he was trying to hold it together. Jerri was behind him. My stomach dropped. Andrew stared at me as he moved forward. He was definitely shaking. Jerri was in her robe. Her hair was frizzed out, and there was no color in her face, and she was super skinny. She followed him through the garage and onto the drive, where she squinted in the summer light. She looked like she hadn't seen the sun in weeks, which was probably true.

"Felton," she said. "Andrew won't tell me what he's doing."

"Don't worry," I said. "We're going for a bike ride."

"You're what?" She shook her head.