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get Poppi in trouble. He didn’t want the witch to nail her window shut or move her to a room with no window or, worse, one that didn’t face his. He had to think fast and talk fast…“A friend of mine from school said she lived here across the street from me; she said she knew her from school; she asked me to tell her ‘hi’ for her.”
    The ladies face seemed to soften. “I’ll tell her.”
    When she tried to shut the door, Tanner didn’t want to let it go so easily; he had to get something out of the visit, anything. “I… this friend wanted to know if she could keep in touch with her. Can I have her number or email address?”
    “We don’t have a computer.”
     “Phone?”
    “I’m really sorry young man. My granddaughter has way too much school work to be socializing. Tell your friend that Poppi is fine and says hello.” With that, she shut the door in their faces.
    They stood there for a moment.
    “She was nice,” Bonnie said. “Can we go home?”
    Tanner exhaled. “Yeah. I guess so.” Suddenly, he had another idea.  “Come on,” he said and grabbed Bonnie by the wrist.
    “Ouch! You’re hurting me.”
    “Shhh. We’re going to play spy.”
    “What’s that?”
    “If you were my little brother instead of my little sister you’d know.”
    She frowned.
    “All right,” he said. “We’re going to play hide and go seek.”
    “Oh, I know that game. I wanna play. I wanna play…”
    “Bonnie,” he whispered sternly. “I said we’re playing.”
    She pulled her arm away from him and stood still in the yard, her hands on her hips. “No fair. I can’t count very high.”
    “You hide. I’ll count.” He put her behind the bushes on the side of the house. “Now stay here until I find you.”
    “Okay.”
    Tanner walked a couple of feet until he stood right underneath Poppi’s window. He whispered up, “Poppi… Poppi.”
    “Do I come out now?” Bonnie asked.
    “Not yet.” He waved her back.
    “Poppi,” he said a little louder.
    Still nothing.
    He found a couple of acorns on the ground and threw them at the window, followed by a couple of pinecones. They didn’t make much noise, but it seemed to have accomplished his goal because he watched the curtain move to the side a little.
    “I don’t like this game,” Bonnie said.
    “Shhh,” he said and waved his hand at her.
    He waited for a couple of minutes before the window opened. The curtains remained closed as a hand reached out beyond them holding a piece of paper. He watched the paper fly softly to the ground. When he looked back up, the window had been closed again.
    “What’s that?” Bonnie ran from her hiding spot and grabbed the paper.
    “Bonnie, no,” Tanner said. “Let me have it.”
    “What does it say?” Bonnie asked handing it to him.
    “Grandma sleeps at midnight.”

Chapter 9
     
    Since Julia knew her dad would have said no to any suggestions, she made the plans for his birthday without telling him. Inviting both sides of the family over for a party would be interesting, to say the least. Aunt Mary and Uncle Howard, from her dad’s side, would probably be a tiny bit uneasy with all the ethnic music and decorations, but Julia could only think of her dad’s needs at the moment. Her ultimate goal was to help him feel closer to her mom and for him to be happy and to smile again. Therapy with Zachary’s dad’s had helped a lot by enabling her dad to function in day-to-day activities; however, she wanted to give him that little push to get back to actually living again.
    She planned to have him out of the house by 6:00 p.m. so her nana and aunts could decorate and prepare their dishes like frijoles refritos, tomatillo salsa, tamales, and chocolate cake. She was to have him back home by 8:00 p.m. to be greeted by a house full of caring friends, loving family members, and the familiar smells of her mom’s favorite dishes.
    “Dad?” Julia said after she found him in his chair watching TV… again. “I need to