Hide and Seek

    Marci Wellington pressed the phone closer to her ear with her shoulder. Her mother was on the other end talking, not into the mouth piece but into the room, as if Marci stood before her. The t.v. was blaring in the background and it sounded as if her dad passed by an open window on his riding lawn mower.

    Marci heard, "Hm. wah home, this labor dah ee ahn?"

    "Yes, Mom, we plan to come down." She turned off the sink faucet and wrung out her dish rag. "Scott is taking the whole week off. We'll be able to see everyone and attend Sissy's wedding."

    "That's goo to oh. Your dadzzz looking forward to 'eeing the kids."

    Marci resisted the urge to tell her mom to speak up. It would have been the third time she had done it. "The kids are looking forward to it too." She wiped at the table, pointing at the sheet of paper her son was drawing on.

    Stevie looked up. He smiled, revealing the gap his lost baby tooth created. His tiny fingers picked up the paper and red crayon. When Marci finished cleaning the spot, he put down his drawing and swapped crayon colors. "Is that Grandma, still?"

    "Yes." Marci mouthed the word as she strained to decipher the garbled mess coming over the phone. Deciding it was pointless, she said, "Hey, Mom, I gotta go. But I think Stevie wants to say hi, okay?" She handed the phone to her youngest, watching his face light up at the rare oppurtunity to use the phone.

    "Hi, Grandma!" He hopped down from his chair and paced the kitchen floor, much like his father did when he was on the phone. Every now and again he answered a question with one word. His face didn't wrinkle in confusion and he wasn't straining to hear what Grandma said.

    "Bye." He set the phone on the table and resumed his drawing. "You know, Mom, Grandma has a real loud voice. Does she think I can't hear?"

    Marci picked up the phone and hung it up. "I think she was just excited to talk with you."

    "Oh."

    "Whacha drawing there, little man?" Marci folded up the dish rag and set it next to the sink.

    Stevie's blue crayon scribbled circles around two stick figures with rakes for arms and golf clubs for legs. "Me and Daddy. This is when we went fishing." He moved to the bottom of the paper. "How do you make 'I love you?'"

    Marci sat down and picked up a crayon. She took out a piece of paper from the notebook Stevie was using. Using her best print, she wrote out the phrase. "Like that."

    Stevie's tongue flicked out as he copied the letters onto his drawing. He ran out of space. The "O" and "U" were squeezed under the "Y". Stevie tipped his head, studying his handi work. "This looks dumb."

    Marci kept her face as solemn as possible. She thought it was perfect for a six year old. It was adorable, fantastic, a piece of art a dad would be proud to have, but she didn't say anything. Stevie was a perfectionist. He would wad it up and start over again if she said anything like that.

    So Marci pretended to look at the drawing with the same critical as her son. "You know, Jennifer could never do this well when she was your age."

    Stevie smiled. He placed the blue crayon down and grabbed the red crayon again. He drew a heart in the sky. "Can you make sure Daddy gets this tonight?"

    "I can put it on the fridge."

    Stevie shook his head. "No, you have to give it to him, 'kay?"

    "Okay."

    Stevie looked at the drawing. Studied it once again, and decided it was good. He hopped down from his chair.

    "Whoa, there."

    Stevie stopped and looked at his Mom. "What?"

    "Are you done drawing?"

    "I want to play with Jennifer."

    "Clean up the paper and crayons first."

    Stevie sighed. "'Kay." When he finished, he went to Marci, wrapped his arms around her waist and hugged her tightly. "I love you, Mom."

    "Love you, too, little man." She returned the hug and kissed his forehead. "Love you bunches and bunches." She pushed his blonde hair from his eyes.

    Stevie's brown eyes met with hers. He gave her a huge grin. "I love you more than forever."

    "Bunches are more than forever."

    "No they're not." He laughed before he pulled away. "I'm going to play."

    Marci nodded. "You two stay in the yard and when you get hot, you come right back in." Marci couldn't see how the kids tolerated the summer heat.

    Stevie skipped through the kitchen, his footsteps silent as he crossed the linoleum flooring. Marci watched as he closed the door behind him. She smiled to herself. Stevie was a bundle of energy and love.

    Marci decided she would treat Stevie and his sister. She would let them make their own Mac and Cheese today. They had been begging to use the new microwave ever since Scott removed the old one and put the new one in. It might be messy, but a hug like Stevie's made it all right.





    Jenny turned her back to the yard. Stevie was already running, searching for a place to hide. "One, two--

    "Cover your eyes!" Stevie yelled.

    Jenny sighed. She raised her hands and pressed her palms against her cheeks. Sometimes, Stevie was a real pain. She spread her fingers and peeked out. "Three, four, five!"

    Today, he was willing to play games she liked. Well, she amended, he said he'd play Princess Palace with her if they played Hide and Seek first. She closed her eyes, lowering her voice as she continued to count.

    A drop of sweat trickled from her ear and landed on her shoulder. Jenny wiped it off. It almost felt like a bug crawling down her shirt. She hated bugs. She hated how hot it was in the summer. She hated counting to fifty for Hide and Seek. But she loved to play princess, and it was awesome Stevie offered to play without being begged.

    They would play Princess Palace inside. The stairs could be the castle steps.The hall could be the throne room, where her doll, Ms. Teal, could play the king. Her room could be the princess chambers. The living room would be the dragon's den. She and Stevie could be the ones in the kingdom to slay the dragon, get married and rule.

    Well, maybe not marry, that would be gross.

    "Ready or not, here I come!" Jenny turned around and scannned the front yard. Stevie wasn't in sight. She tilted her head and listened. Sometimes, Stevie giggled, giving away his hiding spot. There wasn't a peep from Stevie.

    Hopping down the stairs, Jenny started the search for her brother. She looked in the places he liked to hide, behind the trees, and under the bushes. He normally chose the type of places he could be found in right away. She thought it was because he liked to be chased. She hated running after him.

    This time Stevie wasn't hiding by the trees or bushes. From the corner of her eye she caught movement. Jenny smiled. Stevie was so "found."

      Quickly, Jenny skipped to the side of the house and pressed her back against the wall. She inched her way along the building, keeping her palms flat against the vinyl siding like they did in the movies. At the corner she stopped. She took a deep breath in, jumped away from the house, and yelled, "Got ya!"

    The startled robin took to the air. Jenny watched it for a second, disappointed it wasn't Stevie. Slowly, she moved into the back yard. If Stevie was hiding here, he could be anywhere. There were all sorts of hiding spots, trees, bushes, boxes, behind the trashcans, in the tree house or under the lawn furniture. She sighed, wiping away another bead of sweat.

    After searching the area, including under the back deck, Jenny stood still. It wasn't fair that he was hiding so good. They should be inside now playing Princess Palace. He wasn't in the front yard. He wasn't in the backyard. Since Stevie couldn't leave the yard and he didn't cheat, there was only place left to look for him, the garage.

    Jenny walked to the garage and shut the door behind her. Stevie was trapped now. There was no way he could leave the building without being tagged by her. Jenny bit on her lower lip to keep from gloating.

    Inside the garage was just as hot as it was outside. It was dirty. She could smell the old oil and grease. It smelled a lot like her father after he worked on the cars. She bent down and looked under the truck.

    Stevie wasn't there. She didn't even see a sneaker poking out from behind the tires. Jenny moved to the truck. She looked inside the window. Stevie wasn't lying down on the bench seat or curled up on the floor board. She walked around the truck and found no trace of Stevie.

    Frustrated, she stomped her foot. She didn't want him to win. Jenny marched back to the front porch, rechecking the places she already looked. "Allee-allee in come free!"

She hated it when she lost.



      Marci sat down at the table. She loved moments like these. The house was quiet. The chores were done, except for the load of towels in the dryer. Jenny and Stevie were outside playing together, nicely. And Scott just called, letting her know he was going to bring home pizza for dinner.

    Heaven. She was in heaven. She closed her eyes and listened to the clock tick away the seconds before lunchtime.

    "Mom!" The front door opened and Jenny stomped through the kitchen. "Did Stevie hide in the house?"

    Marci sighed, so much for the quiet time. "What?" She opened her eyes and looked at her daughter. Jenny was leaning over the table. Her cheeks were red and sweat dampened her hair line.

    "Stevie. Is he inside?"

    "No." Marci took a drink of her lemonaide. "He went outside to play with you."

    "Well, he was playing with me." Jenny put her hands on her hips. "We played Hide and Seek and I can't find him. He promised to play Princess Palace with me, but he's still hiding. Make him stop hiding."

    "Maybe he wants you to find him."

    "Mom." Jenny rolled her eyes.

    Marci sighed. "Check upstairs. Maybe he did sneak in while I was doing laundry." She watched her daughter climb the stairs, each step a heavy stomp of defeat. Feeling just as put out, Marci headed to the basement to remove the clothes from the dryer.



    "Mom!" Jenny stopped at the top of the basement steps. "He's not in the house."

    The drier door shut, and her mom came up the stairs, balancing a basket on her hip. "Did you look in his room?"

    "Yes. And he's not outside."

    "You looked in your room?"

    "Yes."

    "What about the bathroom?"

    Jenny sucked in her breath. "Yes, Mom. I looked everywhere, even in the linen closet." She waited for her mom to admit she knew where Stevie was, instead her mom looked at the clock. "Mom."

    "Hold on." She set her basket down on the floor. "It's almost lunch time. Go on upstairs, wash up, and I'll call him in."

    Jenny tried not to sigh in disappointment, but it happened anyway. Her mother wasn't going to tell her Stevie's secret hiding place. She spun around and marched up the stairs. "When he comes in you better tell him he still has to play Princess Palace with me."

    She listened as her mom simply yelled out the back door for Stevie. Jenny shook her head. It must be nice to be a mom. All a mom had to do was yell and the kids come running home. But not her, no she had to look everywhere first. It wasn't fair.

    Jenny turned on the water and let it run over her hands. She cupped some of the water and splashed her face. Then taking her wet hands she placed them on the back of her neck. She shivered a bit as she cooled down. It was one of the few tricks her daddy taught her that actually worked.

    Jenny patted her face and hands dry on the towel hanging by the sink. She turned off the water then flicked off the light switch. When she got to the kitchen her mom was setting out glasses full of blue kool-aide. "Did he come in?"

    "Not yet. I'm going to set the table and then I'll look for him."

    "Well, he's not in the front yard. He's not in the garage. I couldn't find him." Jenny looked down. Her mom kept setting the table, only nodding at the facts. She hated it when Mom was this quiet. "Want me to look again?" She hated it more than going out in the hot summer heat.

    Her mom turned around. Her lips were pressed tightly together. A round bump formed where her jaw was clenched. "No." She set two bowls on the table. "Stevie knows that he needs to come in after I call. I've called three times, now."

    Jenny felt sorry for her brother. When Mom found him he was going to be lectured, grounded and probably turned over to Daddy for punishment. Her butt began to tingle in fear for her brother. He might even get a spanking. Her shoulders slumped, so much for Princess Palace.



    Marci gripped the edge of the table. It was the only thing that was strong enough to support her weight. It didn't matter Scott was holding onto her, his grip wasn't tight enough to make her mind stop spinning, or make the world right itself. She vaguely understood his whispered words. She was sure he said, "It's going to be okay."

    But she knew it wasn't. It was never going to be okay. She would always remember this dreadful feeling, no matter the outcome.

    "He's probably at the neighbors--

    "I called all the neighbors." She fought the pressure building behind her eyes. Marci swallowed to prevent the croak from escaping her mouth. It was pointless. The tears came and a horrible mewling sound that was her own wail.

    "Hush." Scott sounded pathetic to her ears. "The police will find him." He spoke softly, too soft, like if he said anything too loud it would jinx everything. At this moment, she hated him, and she hated the fact she hated him when she needed him.

    "They will find him." Marci forced her legs to bend and sat in the chair. She folded her hands in front of her and leaned over the table. It looked like she was praying, but really she just didn't want Scott to touch her. Not when he didn't sound like he believed what he was saying. At this moment she really needed to believe Stevie would appear.

    "I looked in the back. I looked in the front. I called all the nieghbors." She spoke to her clasped hands. "Jenny told me she couldn't find him. Oh God, please let the police find him. Let him be sleeping in his hiding spot. Let him be playing in a field. Let him be safe. Please."

    "Maybe I waited too long to call the police." Scott wasn't talking to her. "Maybe we should have called right away, maybe after he didn't come in when you called him in."

    Marci took a deep breath in. She was going to pretend she didn't hear the accusation in his voice. She called the police thirty minutes after Jenny came storming into the house. The time it took for her to search, for her to yell out for him, for her to make phone calls and then reach Scott. He didn't want to call the police, wait till he got home first, he said. But she couldn't wait that long.

    Stevie was missing for two hours by the time the police arrived. The small town force was more than willing to help find Stevie. According to the lead officer a rash of strangers seemed to be stalking the young children of nearby Omaha, it was possible preditors were now targeting this sleepy town.

    He also added, there were recent cases of child abuse, child negligect, and even a child murdered, on the town's record. He said it matter of factly. Like he suspected them of something so heinous. She would have told the men in blue to get out, but she needed them. She needed them to find Stevie. She hated she needed them.

    Marci suspected it wasn't willingness to find a child who was missing for less than 24 hours that motivated the force. She thought the police didn't want another possible child related crime to smear the town's good name. It didn't matter what they said now, what they implied, or what they asked, it mattered only that they start looking.

    "One last question, Mrs. Wellington. Have you noticed any strange vehicles or people who don't belong in the neighborhood? Recently."

    Marci gasped. "I haven't seen--you don't think--" She grabbed onto Scott's hand. "No. Someone wouldn't just take him. Jenny was out there with him. She would have heard. Oh God."

    "Marci," Scott pleaded. "Just in case. Anything?"

    Marci forced herself to look at her husband. At that moment he looked weak. Weaker than herself. She hated him for that too. He was supposed to be the stronger of them. How dare he become useless. She closed her eyes, blocking out his image, blocking out the hateful words in her mind. "I haven't seen anything unusual." She ground out the words.

    "Okay." The officer snapped shut his notebook. "People are looking for Stevie right now. There are officers canvassing the area, in case he wandered off. We have officers doing a door to door search in case he went inside someone's home." He raised his hand, "This is a small town, the older folks might let him in, if seems lost."

    Scott squeezed Marci,s shoulder and she forced herself not to cringe. "Stevie knows better."

    "Sure." The officer nodded. "We also need an item of his clothing, so he can get the dogs on his scent."

    "I just did laundry." Another tear tracked down her cheek. Why couldn't she have been lazy? Why did she have to make sure the house was clean? It was just another thing she did for Scott. Keep the house clean so he could relax. What good was that now?

    "How about a favorite toy or maybe his shoes?"

    Marci blinked a few times. "Tennis shoes." She got up from her chair. "He wanted to wear his sandals. I had to help him." She went to the door and picked up a pair of white and blue champion running shoes. "His fingers can't work the strap into the buckle. Too new. I promised him I'd get the kind with velcro." She fingered the strap on the shoes. "Like these."

    The officer removed the shoes from her hands. Each shoe was so small it barely filled his palm. Marci watched as the shoes went into the hands of another officer and then disappear behind a closed door. "Please find him." She whispered.



    Jenny stared mutely at the television set. Daddy tried to talk to Mom. Mom only watched his lips move. She tried talking with Mom, she really did. Mom only said, yes, no, ok, and sometimes oh.

    The last real sentence her mom said was, "I hate that you bought that thing."

    Grandma and Grandpa sat on the couch next to her. Watching Mom, hoping she would say more than those four words. Sometimes it looked like Grandma was about to cry, but Grandpa would just shake his head and suddenly Grandma would perk up.

    The news was on. Grandpa reached for the remote.

    "No." Mom took the remote and turned the volume up.

    Jenny clenched her jaw. It was a story about Stevie. "A few days back we reported on a six year old boy who died while he was playing hide-and-seek with his sister. He was found suffocated in an old microwave his father had put in his pick-up to be taken to the dump." A picture of Stevie was shown. A reporter showed the size of the microwave, three times the size of the new microwave Daddy bought and explained how it couldn't be opened from the inside.

    Jenny ached. If only she looked inside before she gave up.

    Mom stood up and smoothed down her black dress. It was time to go.