By the time I’d reached the end of my neighborhood, I had to stop jogging and settle for a relatively quick walk. I couldn’t show up at Mr. Martin’s home gasping for breath.
I suddenly wondered if I should’ve left my parents a quick note, in case they got up and discovered that I was gone. Too late now.
This was such a stupid idea. Only a mentally ill person would be doing something like this. How could Tina even want to be my girlfriend? How could I have been seeing a shrink for all those weeks and still have a brain that would let me do something this dumb?
I didn’t turn back.
When I turned onto Mr. Martin’s street, I slowed way down—not out of cowardice, but to make sure I could speak calmly and articulately when he answered his door. I reached his house and decided against this whole ridiculous idea. But before I could turn around and start walking back home, I forced myself to walk up to his front door and ring the doorbell.
I quickly hurried back, about twenty feet away.
Nobody answered.
I repeated the process.
Still no answer.
If he wasn’t home, I had to assume that he had Dominick with him.
I walked up to the front door and began to pound on it.
A light turned on inside.
I retreated back to what I hoped was a safe distance.
The door opened. Mr. Martin was in a robe. His hair stuck up on the left side. As he saw me, he rubbed his eyes and let out a soft groan.
“Is that you, Curtis?”
“Yeah.”
“What the hell do you want?” he asked.
“Turn on your porch light.”
“Why?”
“So that we aren’t talking in the dark.”
He turned on the light. I could see that a couple of the other homes had lights on inside, so hopefully that would dissuade him from coming after me. He might be able to knock me unconscious and drag me into his home without anybody noticing, but I doubted he’d take the risk.
I also noticed some yellow streaks and white fragments on his windows. He’d been egged. He must not have handed out treats this evening.
“I have to get up early tomorrow,” he said, stepping outside.
“Stay in your house or I’ll start screaming,” I warned him.
Mr. Martin took a step back. “Tell me what this is about or I’ll call the cops. Have you arrested for disorderly conduct.”
“Another kid is missing.”
“Who?”
“You tell me.”
“No, you tell me. I don’t know anything about a missing kid. I haven’t left the house tonight.”
Honestly, he sounded like he was telling the truth.
“So you’re saying it’s a coincidence that another kid disappeared?”
Mr. Martin glanced around, as if making sure nobody else could hear him. “Yes, that is exactly what I’m saying.”
“I don’t believe you.”
“Did you call the cops?”
“No.”
“You sure?”
“I’m sure. But the kid’s mother did.”
“More harassment on the way for me, huh? Wonderful. I love operating heavy machinery without any sleep. What did you hope to gain here? Did you think I was just going to burst into tears and confess?”
“I thought I’d be able to tell if you were lying.”
“Well, your internal bullshit detector is all messed up. It’s Halloween night. A lot of stuff could happen to a kid.”
“All right,” I said. “I guess we’re done, then.”
Mr. Martin didn’t look like a sadistic killer hiding a secret. He looked like a guy who was genuinely annoyed at being woken up when he had to get up early for work the next morning.
“Are we?” he asked.
“Yeah.”
He stepped outside again.
“Stay in your house,” I told him.
He took a step closer.
“Stay back or I’ll make a lot of noise,” I warned.
“Then scream. People will think it’s some obnoxious little brat trying to get in a last scare on Halloween. I’m not going to hurt you, but I’ve got some more things to say.”
He continued walking toward me. I spun around to try to flee, and my foot came right down on a patch of ice. I flailed my arms wildly to try to keep my balance but there was nothing to grab onto, and I fell on my ass.
As I tried to scoot away, Mr. Martin crouched down. He wasn’t close enough for me to stab him. I decided not to scream quite yet.
“We have a problem here,” he informed me. “I don’t like that you think you can just come over here, pound on my door, and accuse me of something I didn’t do. This makes me think that you feel like you’re the one in charge here. That doesn’t work for me.”
“If a kid goes missing, yeah, I’m going to assume you did it,” I said.
“I get that. I really do. But this little power struggle we’ve got going on here is not balanced in your favor. You understand that, right? You can make life difficult for me, but I can make life so much worse, and so much shorter for you.”
I scooted back further.
“Don’t move,” he said. “We’re not done talking. You started this up again, so you’re goddamn well going to listen to what I have to say. You are the one living in fear. Not me. I sleep fine, unless some rotten little shit starts pounding on my door. Do you think I flinch when the phone rings? Is that what you think? Do you think I’m always peeking out the windows?”
I shook my head.
“I’m not your little bitch. If you break our agreement, it will be so much worse for you than for me. I assumed that you understood that, but I guess I was wrong.”
“I understand,” I said.
“Do you?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe it’s too late.” He glanced around. “You think anybody hears us? You think anybody
