Final Breath

door was locked when we got back from Auburn, and so was the back door. I checked.'

'But maybe he broke in like he did on the Fourth of July, only this time, he locked up after himself.'

'I doubt it, honey. I mean, if the man I saw at the ValuCo event is indeed stalking me, he was in Auburn when we were there. He couldn't have gotten back here that much sooner than us.' She stroked Eli's arm reassuringly. 'It was probably on your desk earlier, only you just didn't notice.'

Eli looked like he was about to say something, but hesitated. He frowned at her. 'Fine,' he muttered finally.

'If you're not going to use the bathroom, do you mind if I pop in the shower?' she asked.

He headed for his room. 'I don't care,' he said, his back to her.

Sydney watched him close the door. He almost seemed disappointed that they hadn't had a break-in. Of course, she couldn't blame him. To a bored, suddenly friendless, twelve-year-old boy, a potential break-in was something exciting.

Reaching back for the zipper to her top, Sydney headed into her room. She walked through the doorway into a wall of warm air. This room usually didn't cool down until nighttime. A fly darted in front of her--and then another. Sydney stopped to shoo them away. Their buzzing sound seemed to fill the bedroom. She glanced over toward the open window, where a few more flies scurried around against the sunlight. Some stopped to crawl over the windowpanes.

'My God,' she murmured. There were at least a dozen flies in her bedroom.

It didn't make any sense. Except for one side window, which was open only a few inches, all of her windows had screens.

Then she noticed something on her pillow, something dark on the pale blue and white sham that matched her quilt bedspread. A swirl of flies buzzed around it.

Her mouth open, Sydney stared at the small dead bird. It looked like a robin--with its mousey brown feathers and reddish chest. The poor thing was perfectly centered on her pillow as if laid to rest there.

Dazed, she took a few steps back and bumped into her dresser. 'Eli!' she screamed. 'Eli, could you come in here, please? Now?'

He'd left here mad at her, then returned with something in a rolled-up plastic bag. But she couldn't believe he'd do something this sick, no matter how angry he was at her.

'What is it?' he called.

She grimaced at the sight of all the flies picking at the dead robin on her pillow. 'Um, come in here, please,' Sydney repeated. She was getting so upset, she couldn't breathe right. 'I need you to look at something...now.'

Eli came to her door. 'What's going on?'

Sydney pointed at her bed. 'Are you responsible for this?'

He glanced over at her pillow and winced. 'Oh, God, gross!'

'You didn't put it there?' she pressed.

He scowled at her, 'No, of course not!' He looked at the dead robin again. 'Jeez...'

'Well, it didn't just fall out of the sky and land there dead,' she argued. 'You sure you didn't put that there?'

'Of course I'm sure! God, stop asking me that!' Eli glared at her and shook his head. 'You think I killed a bird?'

'I didn't say you killed it. But maybe you found it outside someplace, already dead. I know you were mad at me--'

'I didn't leave that fucking bird there!' he yelled, cutting her off. 'God, I can't believe you'd think I'd do something like that! This is so fucked!'

Sydney was stunned. Eli had never used language like that in front of her. She saw tears in his eyes. She took a deep breath. 'Okay, I'm sorry, but--'

'God, I hate you!' he screamed over her. He spun around and stomped toward his room. 'This really sucks!' he yelled, his voice choked with tears. 'I want to live with Dad! I can't stand living with you!'

Sydney heard his bedroom door slam.

Frazzled, she marched out to the hallway, grabbed her purse off the table, and dug out her cell phone. 'Well, that's just fine with me!' she screamed. She put the cell phone down on the floor, by his threshold. 'Go ahead! Call him! I just left my cell phone by your door. Call your father and tell him you want to stay with him. And while you're at it, tell him you just used the f-word in front of me twice! I don't care how angry you are, you don't use that kind of language in front of your mother. If you pulled something like that in front of your dad, he would have nailed your hide to the wall! Go stay with him! I'll even help you pack! I'm so sick of you moping around and blaming me for everything! Do you think I like this?'

Eli's bedroom door opened a crack. He glared out at her.

Sydney felt tears stinging her eyes. Her throat was sore from screaming. She took a deep breath. 'I'm sorry I accused you of putting that dead bird on my bed,' she said in a scratchy, strained voice. 'But you left the house mad at me, then returned with something in that old plastic bag and came up here. I didn't know what to think. Anyway, Eli, I'm sorry, I know you'd never do anything that--that creepy.'

He stared at her through the narrow door opening. Crouching down, he swiped her cell phone off the floor.

Then Eli shut the door.

'Hi, you've reached the McClouds,' his mother's recorded voice said. His dad still hadn't changed the greeting. 'Sorry we missed you. Leave a message for Joe, Sydney, and Eli after the beep. Bye!'

'Hello, Dad?' Eli said, after the beep. He swallowed past the tightness in his throat. He didn't want his father to know he'd just been crying. 'You home? Are you there? It's me--'

There was a click on the other end of the line. 'Hey, buddy,' his father said. 'I was just call-screening...' He lapsed into his Arnold Schwarzenegger impression for a moment: 'I am The Screenanator.' Then he went back to his normal voice. 'So what are you up to, sport?'

'Nothing much,' Eli said. He sat down on the edge of his bed. 'I went to some stupid store opening with Mom today. She had to give a speech. How are you, Dad? What have you been doing?'

'Oh, work, tinkering around in the garage, trying to keep busy--same old, same old.' There was a pause. 'How are you doing, Eli? You don't sound so good.'

'I'm not,' he admitted, his voice cracking. 'I miss you, Dad.'

'Oh, hang in there, buddy. It'll get easier.'

'No, it won't,' he argued. 'I want to move back and stay with you. I hate it here. Mom's so tense all the time, and we fight--like every day.'

'That's because you two are so much alike. You guys are just adjusting--'

'I want to move back with you. Please, Dad? Mom said I could. She said she'd even help me pack.'

He heard his father let out a little chuckle on the other end of the line. 'It sounds like she was mad at you about something. Are you guys in the middle of a fight?'

'Kinda,' Eli replied. 'Dad, please, I can't stand living with her. And she's sick of me, too. She just said so.'

'You know she doesn't mean that,' he said. 'You two are just mad at each other right now. Be patient with her, okay? She's really trying. I know she must have felt bad that Timmy McKenna and Brad Reece couldn't come out and visit. But you'll be making friends there--'

'Wait,' Eli interrupted. 'What are you talking about? Timmy and Brad were going to come out here?'

'She didn't tell you? I figured you knew. She was trying to do it for you. The McKennas mentioned it to me. Your mom phoned them, offering to pay Tim's way to Seattle so he could stay with you guys a few days. I guess she tried the same thing with the Reeces, trying to get Brad to visit. But--you know, the guys got baseball and they just couldn't get away.'

'Mom was trying to do that--for me?' Eli whispered. He suddenly felt so awful for screaming at her.

'She's doing the best she can, Eli. You just have to hang in there. It wouldn't work out if you moved back with me right now. They have me jumping through hoops at work, and I'm awfully busy. You'd be alone in the house most of the time. You're much better off with your mom in Seattle. Give it another few weeks.'