«What do you want me to say?» he asked, picking the remains of the pie apart with his fork. «I've had a great time today, but did you really think that one afternoon full of activities was going to erase those horrible images from my mind?»
«I was hoping to at least distract you for a while,' she answered softly.
«And you did,' he honestly replied. «But you know there's only one way to get rid of them for good.»
«No, Kyle,' she said firmly. «I can't dreamwalk you to remove the memories. It's too dangerous.»
«More dangerous than my meltdown outside?» His fingers were tapping on the plate again, every now and again dropping into the pie. «What if that happens while I'm driving?»
«We should talk to Max about it when he gets back,' Isabel said. «Maybe he'll have an idea.»
«And until then I should just stay at home locked in my room?» Kyle asked. «I've already been told to take time off from work,' he reminded her. «This is beginning to interfere with my life.»
Isabel didn't want to fight with him, especially considering the agitated state he was already in. She tried to keep herself calm, even though he was getting a little unsettled. «I wish I had the answers, Kyle, but I don't.»
«Yes, you do,' he pushed.
Their eyes locked as Kyle pleaded with her to do what she knew she could not. She had already lost one friend to alien mind games; she was not going to lose another.
Finally, Kyle relented. His body sank back into the booth. «I'm sorry. I know it's dangerous. I'm just under a lot of stress.»
«I know,' she replied. «And I want to help, but I'm just afraid.»
«Do you want the last bite?» He referred to the pie, although the remnants had been mashed into oblivion.
«I think you managed to put it out of its misery,' she replied.
«Lucky pie,' he joked.
«Come on, Kyle.» She got out of the booth. «The night is still young. To paraphrase the poem Liz read the other night, we've got miles to go before you sleep.» She put her hand out to him in friendship.
Rejuvenated, Kyle slid out from the booth and took her hand.
Isabel led him through the Crashdown and out into the street. The night ahead of them, she was determined to do whatever she could to keep his mind off his problems. All the while, she was beginning to question her decision not to dreamwalk him as the phrase kept repeating in her head, miles to go before you sleep.
6
Ms both meals came to very different conclusions in Roswell, another dinner came to an end forty miles south in Artesia. Max finally was able to relax once all the pizza had been eaten, considering he had spent most of the meal worrying that they were going to spill something on the perfectly clean beige carpet. A few times, he suspected that Jason had been aware of his concern, since the boy kept holding his glass of soda precariously over the floor with an evil grin on his face.
Having spent a little time with Jason, Max had to wonder whether this was the same person Liz had grown up with. He didn't seem at all like the boy she had described. Talk about invasion oj the body snatchers, he thought. Then, for one infinitesimally brief moment he feared that was the truth behind Jason's behavior. Stranger things have happened. Shaking off the ridiculous thought, Max got up to clear away their mess.
After removing the remains of the slightly overcooked pizza, Max found one of those gross-out comedy movies
playing on cable. Although he really hated that kind of base humor, he knew kids seemed to like it, so he let Jason watch. It was the first bit of bonding they had done, although very few words were actually spoken. Unfortunately, the movie was only two hours long, and silence filled the air again as soon as the TV was clicked off.
«Your parents should be in Santa Fe by now.» Liz checked her watch. «They might be calling soon.»
«I wouldn't wait by the phone,' Jason replied.
«What is with this attitude?» Liz asked.
«Nothing,' he said. «I just don't expect them to call.»
«Well, if they do call, I want to ask you a favor,' Liz said.
A smile crept to Jason's lips, but it was not warm and inviting. «Go ahead.»
Liz sighed. She knew that she could trust the Jason she had grown up with, but whoever it was sitting on the couch with her was totally different from the boy she had known. «It's just… they don't know Max is staying here.»
«And you want to keep it that way,' Jason finished her thought. «Okay.»
That was easy.
«What's in it for me?» he added.
Max was caught off guard by the devious mind of the twelve-year-old, but even more surprised by Liz's sudden response.
«How «bout I let you live until morning.» She used a threat that was totally out of character for her, obviously not knowing what else to do.
«I'm going to my room.» Jason stood.
When Liz and Max said nothing in response, he left.
They both listened as he stomped up the stairs, remembering back to how they themselves would stomp around their respective homes when they were that age. They waited for the door to slam.
It did.
«That is not the boy I grew up with,' Liz said once she knew Jason was well out of earshot.
Body snatchers, Max thought once again, not wanting to make the joke out loud, for fear Liz would think he was making light of the situation. «It's not easy being a boy at this age,' he replied. «I know from experience.»
«Yeah, but you were dealing with other things too,' Liz said.
«That doesn't matter,' Max said. «I was still a boy. And I had my dad around to talk to about the nonalien things.»
«Somehow Mr. Lyles doesn't seem all that receptive to talking about»-Liz thought for a moment-«well… anything.» A lightbulb went off in Liz's head. «Maybe he just needs a guy to talk to. Someone closer to his own age.»
«I don't know, Liz,' Max said skeptically.
«Hey, if anyone can talk to him about changes in life…,' she replied.
«With someone he's only just met and hardly said two sentences to?» Max was not excited about the coming conversation. «Maybe he'd rather talk to you. In fact, this could be all about that. He wasn't expecting you to bring a date this weekend.»
«He refused to come out of the room before he knew you were here,' Liz said. «It's something else.» She then hit him with the sad doe eyes that she could do better than anyone Max had ever met.
Moments later, Max found himself heading up the stairs to the second floor and knocking on the door to Jason's bedroom. «Can I come in?»
«No,' Jason replied.
Max tried the doorknob, but it was locked again. «Would you like me to open the door like I did last time?»
Max heard footsteps, and then the door lock being turned. Well, at least that's one small victory. He waited in the hall, but for reasons he could only assume were territorial in nature, Jason never opened the door. Showing himself into the room, Max found Jason had already made his way back to his bed and had his head buried in a comic book.
The whole point of the weekend was for Max to get an idea of what his own fatherhood was going to be like. As he stood in the doorway looking at a sullen preteen who was trying to ignore him, Max's personal fears were suddenly justified. But he had to ignore those future dilemmas for the time being as he dealt with the problems of
