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together.”
    “Okay.”
    Ramey looked strange in her eyes, the way his friend Wilton looked when he forgot his bike at the pool and someone stoled it.
    Scared and mad and not sure what to do. Ramey grabbed the top video from the stack and pushed it into the VCR. There was no school tomorrow, so staying up late was okay. Max found his favorite spot on the fluffy purple couch, and when Buddy climbed up beside him, Ramey didn’t say a thing.
    She didn’t join them, either.
    Instead she kept her voice in a whisper and sometimes her cheeks looked wet. Was she crying? Max tried to listen to what she was saying, but most of the time the video was too loud.
    He did hear a couple of things, though. “What am I supposed to do?” And “I won’t say anything until there’s proof.” The movie was All Dogs Go to Heaven, and Max watched it with the side of his face against Buddy’s. Every few minutes Max checked to make sure Buddy was watching it, but halfway through the movie the dog fell asleep. And Ramey stayed on the phone the whole time.
    When the movie was over, Ramey put on another show. Peter Pan, Part II . She brought Max a meat sandwich and milk to eat in the TV room. Max’s funny feeling got worse. Ramey never let him eat in the TV room.
    Finally, when the second movie was over, Max walked up to Ramey and tapped her on the shoulder. She was still on the phone.
    Her eyes had little black lines running under them.
    “Yes, Max? Do you need another movie?” She used her whisper voice.
    “No.” Max whispered back. “I need my mom. See?” He pointed out the window. “See how it’s dark out there, Ramey? That’s when 38

    – Karen Kingsbury –
    my mommy’s supposed to call, only what if she can’t call because you’re on the phone?”
    Ramey stared at him, and little bits of water spilled into her eyes.
    She did a big sniff. “Max, we’ll talk about that in a minute.” He pushed out his bottom lip and walked with slow feet back to Buddy. “Hey, Buddy, wake up.” Max gave him a light shake near his old red collar. “Wake up, boy.”
    Buddy lifted one eyelid, then the other. Max put his face up close against Buddy’s nose and waited until the dog licked his cheek.
    Then Max put his fingers on either side of Buddy’s wet nose. “I’m telling you, Buddy . . . something’s funny here.” The dog tilted his head to the side and gave Max another lick.
    Just then Ramey came up to him. She looked old and tired, and her face was reddish. “Max, your mom can’t call you tonight.” A scared feeling came into Max. A goldfish feeling. One time he and his mom watched a show about people who ate live goldfish.
    “I bet they wiggle around in those tummies for a long time,” Max had told her.
    That’s how he felt now. Like maybe ten or eleven goldfish were wiggling in his stomach. He let go of Buddy and stood up straight and tall. The way his mommy liked him to stand. “How come?”
    “Because something’s come up, and she can’t call, that’s why.” The goldfish wriggled around some more. “Why?”
    “I don’t know, Max. We just have to wait.” Ramey came and sat down on the edge of the sofa in front of where he was standing.
    Then she hugged him the way she did once when his turtle died.
    Max stood stiff and scared. “Is she going to call me tomorrow?
    Before she flies?”
    “I hope so.” Ramey’s voice sounded disappointed. Like she didn’t really think his mom would call then, either.
    Max pulled back and sat down. All of a sudden he didn’t want to think about getting a phone call from his mom. Buddy jumped off 39

    – Oceans Apart –
    the couch and lay down on the floor in front of him. Max patted his head. “Good boy, Buddy. It’s okay.” Ramey let Max sleep on the couch that night, him on the top and Buddy on the floor beneath. But no TV; definitely no TV. In the morning Ramey came to him and reached out for his hand. He liked Ramey a lot because she was sort of like family. But he