Chapter 4: One Question a Day

Two days later the red car's owner walked into Tuck's Diner and sat down in my section.

I stood with the coffeepot in my hand and did not move.

Phillip wore a gray jacket over the rib bandage and a clean white strip across his forehead.

He read the whole menu twice without looking up.

"Is this one of your questions?" I asked.

"No. I'm hungry."

"There's a pancake place on Elm."

"It's a month," Phillip said. "You said one question a day, and I'm not letting you out of my sight until I get the right one."

Behind the counter, Maggie Tuck put down the plate she was drying.

She came over with her red ponytail swinging and her arms folded.

"Is this him?" she said to me.

"This is him."

"The boy who smashed your water bottle."

"Yes."

"The boy who told the whole lacrosse team not to sit with you at prom."

"Maggie," I said.

"I'm just checking the file." She turned to Phillip. "You get one refill, and if you say one mean word to her I'll put the pot in your lap."

"Understood," Phillip said.

He looked a little afraid of her, and I liked that more than I should have.

He ordered pancakes and ate every bite. Then he ordered a second plate and ate that too.

I worked the lunch rush with his eyes following me down the counter.

He did not say anything cruel. He did not say anything at all.

At two o'clock the diner was empty, and he pushed his plate away.

"First question," he said.

I put down the rag. "Go ahead."

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