“Jawarski said you should call the cops,” I said to Mom once I finished my quick once over of all three of them.She’d had her hands on her knees... and was shaking a bit, but nodded and headed towards the house phone.“What happened?” I asked Tami as soon as she was on her way.“I don’t know. We were coming inside, and Judy said she left her backpack in the car and turned to go back and get it. Jawarski said to wait, and started to turn to go back with her, but was a bunch of steps behind since Judy. You're single. You aren't thinking of your parents either; they're good and you have no complaints, it's just they talk to you like they're your boss at work, which you think you get enough of.You think of your best friend, Arlen Rochter. Like you, he's tall- maybe an inch shorter than you, if that. You'd been friends since childhood. But at first, being the little shit you used to be, you only acted like his friend because his parents were rich. And it worked. You got to share his cool toys. The lights were dim and flickered occasionally. But the regular customers who frequented Mike’s didn’t mind. In many ways they resembled the little diner. Elderly men in heavy flannel shirts that hung limply off their shoulders, women who dyed their hair unnatural colors and wore too much make-up but never succeeded in hiding the ravages of time, dirty, vacant-eyed vagrants who came in for the cheap food and free refills of coffee, and the lonely truckers passing through on their way to. "Eileen, I don't want to stand in the way of your dreams, so I won't. At the same time, I won't lie either, and claim that I'm happy about this. But if you want to be in that band, I won't object. Just understand that I don't think I'll be attending any of your gigs in the foreseeable future."She still looked downcast and uncertain. "Again, I'll quit if you want me to." You don't have to," I stated firmly. Then, very quietly, I told her wistfully, "Tell me about the band." Are you sure you want.