A-vay-nyew?
I don’t know what it means. Like I said, he was very confused.
Did you ask him what he meant?
No. Because that’s when I realized nobody else knew he was back. So I yelled down here.
Do you have any idea where he was?
No.
Do you have any idea how he got to the attic?
No.
* * *
—
Mom went to call our relatives. Dad led the police into the attic, and then they made him stay downstairs while they looked around. The people who’d been in the house went back to their own homes, telling Mom and Dad they’d call tomorrow, that they were so happy Aidan was safe.
The police were also happy Aidan was safe, but they seemed confused as well. After they searched through the attic, they came down and told Mom and Dad they’d be back in the morning to talk to Aidan, to see what he had to say. They thought I was out of earshot, but I could hear them tell my parents they needed to know if Aidan had been kidnapped, just in case the kidnapper was holding other children. But they also said that in cases like that, a kid who escapes usually raises the alarm right away. They added that, in their opinion, although Aidan seemed tired, he did not seem traumatized. I wondered how they knew the difference. Mom and Dad didn’t ask.
It was after eleven by the time Mom and Dad noticed me in the kitchen, keeping out of the way. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to sleep in my room. But when Mom said, “You need to go to bed,” she didn’t tell me to sleep anywhere else.
* * *
—
I was very quiet when I stepped inside our room. But I also couldn’t help myself.
“Are you awake?” I whispered.
Aidan didn’t answer.
Once my eyes adjusted, I could see him in his bed, turned to the wall. I couldn’t tell if he was sleeping or not.
I had no idea what he’d been through, but I knew he had to have been through something.
“You need to tell them where you were,” I said. “Especially if other kids are in trouble.”
“Nobody else is in trouble,” he replied. “Let me go to sleep.”
“Just promise me you won’t go off again. Not like that. Otherwise, I’m going to keep waking up to check.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” he said, his voice sad in our bedroom darkness. “I don’t think I could, even if I tried.”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
But he only drew the covers higher.
“That’s enough for now,” he said, and I knew that was the only goodnight I would get.
* * *
—
I still woke up at least six different times that night.
Every time I checked, he was still there.
7
Aidan got up first, but he didn’t leave the bedroom until I was awake too. He was sitting on the edge of his bed, feet on the floor, facing me earnestly as I stretched and kicked off my sheets.
“I need to ask you some things,” he said once I was upright.
“Okay.”
“Quickly, because I think the police are already here.”
“What do you want to know?”
* * *
—
How long was I gone?
Six days. Do you really not know?
Are you sure it was six days?
Are you kidding? Do you have any idea what’s been going on here? They were searching everywhere for you.
Did they search the attic?
Yes. They searched the whole house.
And they looked inside that dresser?
Yes. Why are you asking me that? You weren’t here the whole time, were you?
No, I wasn’t.
Where were you?
Nobody’s going to believe me.
I’ll believe you.
I don’t think you can.
* * *
—
I was about to ask him about Aveinieu, but at that moment there was a knock on our door, and Dad was asking if we were ready for breakfast.
“You can come in,” Aidan said.
Dad looked like he, too, hadn’t gotten much sleep; I had heard our door open and close during the night, and there were probably more check-ins I’d missed.
“Officer Ross and Officer Pinkus are here to ask you a few questions. You’re not in any trouble. They—we—just want to know where you were, and to make sure you’re okay.”
“I’m fine,” Aidan said.
“That’s great. Truly. We just have to be sure. And, as I said, we need to know where you were.”
“I can’t tell you,” Aidan said.
This stopped our father short.
“Now, that’s the kind of answer that concerns me, Aidan. You have to be able to tell us. I assure you, you won’t get into any trouble.”
“It’s not that I’m afraid of getting into trouble. It’s just…you’re not going to believe me.”
“I promise, whatever you say, I will one-hundred-percent believe you. I know your word is good, Aidan. It always has been.”
Aidan shook his head, more at something he was saying to himself than at what Dad was saying. Or at least that’s how I saw it.
“Come on,” Dad told him. “You’ll like Ross and Pinkus. Officer Ross knew your grandfather back in the day, and Officer Pinkus is a missing persons specialist.”
“I guess I was a missing person,” Aidan said, getting up and heading to the door.
Dad couldn’t help but pat him on the head as he walked out, saying, “Yes, Aidan. That you were.”
* * *
—
Nobody invited me into the kitchen for the questioning, but they didn’t ask me to leave either. Maybe they thought it would be easier for Aidan to talk if I was there. I hoped that was true. I wanted him to know I was on his side, whatever side that was.
Everyone but me sat at the kitchen table. I leaned against the counter, by the microwave. The detectives introduced themselves, and reassured Aidan that he wasn’t in any trouble; they just needed to understand where he’d been. They started to tell him that people had been concerned about his disappearance, but Mom stepped in and corrected them, saying, “Terrified. The word for what we were is terrified. We were so scared, Aidan.”