Dead and Departed

Chapter Ten

Miya couldn't hold her tongue any longer. Even though it was late and she was supposed to be getting in bed, she thought that she needed to talk to her dad. Finding his name in the book, even without finding out why it was there, seemed to be enough of a reason for Miya to come out.

She'd seen her dad looking around for the past week-- for what, he wouldn't tell her. Miya knew it had probably been the notebook, but she hadn't been able to bring herself to turn it in.

So she took a deep breath. No doubt her dad would be angry, he knew she was smart enough to figure out it was his, or at least that he had brought it home. He wasn't the type to yell or turn his face red, but Miya was still a little scared. The only other time she'd kept something of her dad's without his permission, she'd taken his compass. She was in third grade and wanted to use it on the way to school (on the bus, of course. She wasn't that rebellious). He had found it in her room a week later and given Miya a lecture about asking for permission.

Miya was just starting down the stairs when she heard her dad open the front door.

"Welcome, Lucy!" Miya's dad said. "Let me call down Miya."

Miya darted back into her room to hide the notebook. She really didn't need to face the music with someone else there, especially someone she didn't know. Well, she "knew" who Lucy was. Her dad had mentioned Lucinda a couple of times. They had worked on a few translating jobs together and traded notes over the Arabic language. They kept contact afterward, though Miya had never met Lucy.

"Here we are." Miya's dad said as soon as Miya walked into the room. "Lucy, this is Miya. Miya, this is Lucy. You've both heard of each other."

"Hello, Miya," Lucinda stuck out her hand and they shook. "It's nice to finally meet you."

Miya nodded.

"How's Charlotte?" Her dad asked Lucy. "Is she doing better?"

"Much," Lucy said. "She's recovering. I've called her a few times and she's been sounding much better."

"Who's Charlotte?" Miya asked.

"She's a friend of Lucy's." Miya's dad answered. "She's been going through a rough time. Anyway, how about you stay for dinner, Lucy? I've made spaghetti with my fresh tomatoes."

"It sounds delicious. I would love to." Lucy smiled. "I can't thank you enough. But we still need to review our job in Mumbai."

Miya remembered her dad's Mumbai trip. As usual, he'd hired the Tribe of Babysitters to look after her. He needed to go to India to translate for a few country representatives, so he was gone for ten days. It got a little tiring with all the people looking after Miya, and she had been incredibly relieved when her dad had gotten home.

"Of course, we will," Her dad answered. "Though we'll do it after. Miya has some homework and can go up to work on that while we talk. I'm sure she won't want to listen to us blabber about translations."

"Yes, yes," Lucy nodded. "I agree."