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waved. I kept doing it until Randy slapped my hand down. But the man across the lake had seen me. He waved back and then Randy had to wave to get him to stop waving.
    “People here like to be left alone,” Randy said. “You shouldn’t have bothered him.”
    I started crying, not out loud, but to myself. I was crying and thinking about how I wanted to go home, put on dry clothes, talk to my mom, and watch TV.
    “What’s with you, Johnny? It’s a beautiful day, you’re out fishing, you’ve never fished before, but you’re doing it, and you’re acting worse than an old hat.”
    There was a yank on my line and I sat up.
    “Pull back slowly, just a little bit.”
    I did what he said.
    “Don’t let him think he’s caught. If he thinks he can get away he’ll try and wait you out. But if you let him know he’s caught, he’ll fight like hell.”
    We pulled him in and then the fish was there, hanging from the hook, staring at me. Randy dropped him onto the floor of the boat. The fish flopped around.
    “Say hello to dinner,” Randy said.
    “I’m not eating.”
    “You’ll eat.”
    I shook my head.
    “Bait another hook.”
    I watched the fish until its gills stopped flapping, until I was sure it was dead. I watched for about ten minutes and then jammed another worm onto the hook. Randy got a bite on his line and pulled in a small fish. He took it off the hook and threw it back into the water. “I’m not a murderer, Johnny,” he said.
    When we had three fish Randy put away the poles and we ate sandwiches right there in the boat with the fish at our feet. “This is the life,” Randy said.
    I could feel the sun on the place on my shoulder where Randy had grabbed me when I was in his room. I could feel the sun through my shirt and it was like hands rubbing a sore place. I leaned back in the boat and used one of the floating cushions as a pillow.
    “Hey, hey, Johnny, wake up.” Randy had rowed us back to shore. “You sleep a lot for a kid your age.”
    “It’s because of being sick.”
    “You were out all afternoon and you didn’t seem sick. It’s all in your head. You’re sick in the head.”
    I got out of the boat and helped pull it back into the woods. “Last night you said I was sick. I threw up.”
    “I didn’t know you like I do today.” He paused. “Pregnant ladies throw up—are they sick? It’s your head, Johnny.”
    Randy cooked the fish for dinner. We ate and then I helped him clean up.
    “My father’s coming to visit soon and I have to be there,” I said. “It’s the law. My mother lines us up by the piano and I have to be there.”
    “Johnny, she knows where you are. If she wanted you, she’d come get you.”
    *  *  *
    The morning after that Randy woke me up, told me to hurry, handed me a cream cheese sandwich, and said I’d have to eat it in the car.
    “Where are we going?”
    “Did you ever split wood?” he asked.
    “I’ve peeled the bark off branches.”
    “Ever hold an axe?”
    “No.”
    Randy drove to a small shopping center and pulled in near the hardware store. There was a 7-Eleven right next to the hardware store with a pay phone in front. I followed Randy into the hardware store but put my hand in my pocket and felt around for a quarter. While Randy was talking to the guy about axes and wedges I pretended to get lost looking for some fishing stuff. I went outside to the pay phone, put the quarter in, and dialed. I dialed my mother and waited. I thought Randy was going to come outside and kill me. I thought he’d come out with an axe and take off my head. I didn’t care. The phone clicked a couple of times and then beeped busy. A couple of people came out of the 7-Eleven and I thought of asking them for help, but I wasn’t sure what I’d say. I put the quarter in again and dialed. Busy. I hung up, got the quarter back, and put it in again. It started to ring, but then I thought I’d dialed the wrong number. I had only one quarter and I thought I might have