Emmy Laybourne - Monument 14

“I’m think of animal,” Ulysses offered, interrupting the spat. He was more confident now, with Robbie around. “I’m think of animal—it’s a dog!” he said.

We all laughed.

Everyone was in their finest form.

Josie came and sat with me and Alex.

“What do you guys think about the outsiders?” she asked us quickly.

“I really like Robbie,” Alex said eagerly. “He knows so much about engines. I’m going to show him my video walkie-talkies later.”

Josie turned to me.

“Dean?”

“I don’t know,” I said. “I like Robbie. I mean, everyone likes Robbie. But Mr. Appleton is pretty heavy.”

Josie nodded, chewing her sandwich.

“You know what troubles me? That Niko doesn’t like them.”

I was glad, for Niko’s sake, that Josie had even noticed his feelings at all. She seemed pretty oblivious to him, most of the time.

“I worry what the effect on the kids would be, if we all want them to stay and Niko still wants them to go…”

I had been wondering the same thing.

“God,” Josie said with a yawn. “Is it really just lunch time? This day already feels a million years long.”

“It’s because so much has happened,” Alex said through a mouthful of tuna. “Our whole universe has changed in just a few hours.”

Alex was right. As usual.

Everyone worked on the bus in the afternoon except Jake (high), Niko (pissy), Mr. Appleton (sleeping), and Astrid (AWOL).

Robbie, Brayden, and Sahalia got the engine purring nicely.

Robbie and Sahalia got along really well. It turned out that if you treated her like an adult, she acted like one.

Josie helped Alex with the windows. For the front windshield they used Plexiglas that Alex had taken out of the Media Department display cases. The side windows they decided to just cover with wooden shelves from the Home Improvement section. Robbie helped them screw them into place.

The little kids were given the delightful task of putting epoxy glue into every dent, chip, nook, or cranny that looked like it might let air into the bus.

Josie and Alex used the same epoxy to seal around the windows.

“Looking good,” I heard Robbie say, inspecting their work at the end of the day. “Looking very good.”

He boarded the bus and walked down the aisle.

I couldn’t resist, I put down my spatula and went over to see how they’d done.

“Look, Dean,” Alex said, showing me the interior.

The inside of the bus was dark, now. Most of the side windows had been replaced by wood.

It smelled kind of dank in there.

All in all, I did not like being on a bus again.

“We have a little more work to do,” Robbie said.

He pointed up.

We could see slivers and shards of light coming in through the dented roof.

“I guess you guys can do it tomorrow,” Robbie said. “After we’re gone…”

“No,” Alex said. “Niko will let you guys stay longer. I know he will. Now that he sees how helpful you guys are. Don’t you think, Dean?”

I shrugged.

“A deal is a deal.” Robbie sighed.

The atmosphere at dinner was completely different than it had been at lunch.

Mr. Appleton came over, looking a lot better for his day’s sleep.

“Look what we did, Mr. Appleton,” Max said, bounding over to him. “We fixed the bus!”

“My goodness,” Mr. Appleton said. “What good work.”

Robbie walked over to him.

“You’re looking better,” Robbie said.

Chloe came over and snuggled up to Robbie. Robbie tousled her hair.

I saw a flicker of surprise on Mr. Appleton’s face at Chloe’s gesture of closeness.

“Thank you, Robbie,” Mr. Appleton said. “I must be feeling better, because I feel like I could eat a horse!”

Anticipating this, I had prepared like eight bags of chicken alfredo frozen pasta.

Mr. Appleton clapped Niko on the shoulder. “Niko, I think we hit on the right antibiotics. I am feeling a lot better.”

“Good,” Niko said. “Then you two will be ready to leave in the morning.”

“Of course we will. Perhaps you’ll lend me an alarm clock so we can wake up at a reasonable hour. Then we’re on our way.”

All the friendly chitter chatter of dinner stopped suddenly.

“What?” Chloe said. “Who died? Why’d everyone stop talking?”

“Niko’s going to make Robbie and Mr. Appleton leave tomorrow,” Sahalia said.

“Nooo!” shouted half the kids, and the others screamed, “You have to let them stay!”

“We have a deal!” Niko shouted, but the ruckus was too loud.

Ulysses was crying in Spanish and Robbie drew him onto his lap. Those fat tears welled up in Ulysses’s eyes and he put his head down on Robbie’s shoulder.

“We have a deal with these men and they can only stay for one day,” Niko repeated.

“Now, kids,” Mr. Appleton tried. “Be reasonable now…”

“I hate you!” Chloe screamed at Niko. “I wish we had elected Jake president! He wouldn’t care if they stayed.”

Niko turned to me and Josie.

“How about some backup here?” he asked us.

But it was basically futile to try to talk to the kids when they were so worked up.

“This doesn’t make any sense,” shouted Alex. “They should stay at least until we’re finished fixing the bus and Mr. Appleton is feeling better.”

Part of me was happy that Alex was now mad at Niko, his hero.

But truly Alex was right. What would a couple more days do? The men were safe. They could be trusted. Why couldn’t they stay a little longer?

“We made a deal,” Niko insisted.

“If you make them go, I’m going with them,” Brayden shouted.

“Whoa now,” Mr. Appleton said, holding his hands up.

“Me, too!” Sahalia announced. “I’d rather take my chances out there than stay here with you losers!”

This caused more screaming and crying from the little kids, who, I think, were less insulted by being called losers than afraid their new “family” was breaking apart.

“Everyone, please quiet down,” Mr. Appleton said. “Quiet down!”

The kids tried to rein in their distress, sniffling and hiccupping back their tears.

“Right. Good,” Niko said sarcastically. “Listen to him, but not to me.”

Mr. Appleton turned to Niko.

“Niko,” he said. “I give you my word that we will leave. But the truth is… my leg is worse than I thought. Robbie could finish fixing the bus. I could rest… If perhaps we could stay one or two more days…”

The chorus of whining “pleases” went up from the kids and Niko stormed off.

Josie got up.

“I want you all to settle down,” she said to the little kids. “I am going to talk to Niko and see if we can’t work something out. Dean?” she said, turning to me.

“Yeah.” I rose and followed her.

“I’m coming, too,” Alex said.

“No, Alex,” I said. “You’re too upset. You won’t be impartial.”

He nodded, looking down at the table. He prided himself on remaining impartial.

“You think he’s just insecure about losing his power?” Josie asked me as we looked for Niko.

“I guess. I don’t know. He’s so disciplined. Maybe he just really wants them to stick to the deal, even though it makes sense for them to stay.”

Niko wasn’t in the storeroom or in the Living Room.

We passed the towel aisle.

Jake was lying on a hammock, strung between the aisles.

“Hey, Jake, you seen Niko?” I asked.

“Naw,” he drawled.

There were shadow circles under Jake’s eyes. His sunny blond hair looked gray and dirty. He looked like his own evil twin.

“What’s all the ruckus?” he asked us.