AFTER ALL OUR BROKEN PIECES: A SHORT STORY

LENNON

Claire and Dad are both in the kitchen the next morning. I make a coffee and head back toward my room but slow my pace when I see them exchange quick, concerned glances across the table. Dad's face is undecided, and Claire's got a smile plastered on hers, but her teeth are gritted, and her eyes are big, like she's trying to persuade my father into something without words. When she clears her throat. It's decided.

"Can you sit down for a moment, Bug?" Dad asks.

I sit almost robotically. My legs fold, the coffee shaking in my hands.

He looks at my hands. "You okay, Bug?"

"Are any of us ever okay, really?"

Neither of them speaks for what feels like an eternity. I swallow the knot that is searing the sides of my throat, my fingers, twitch. Damn it.

"What's going on?"

I look at them and wait for one of them to tell me that everything's okay, but my heart is hammering, my stomach is doing flip flops and I think I may throw up or faint. My fingers dance against my thigh.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Something bad has happened. I can taste it. I can feel it.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

My eyes burn with liquid fire and my heart wallops in my chest—so hard and so fast I'm not sure how it didn't just break all together.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Claire takes a big breath, "Lennon, baby. Your Daddy and I were talking, and we don't think you should do your little heart checkup today."

Heart checkup. That's what Claire calls my morning reading sessions online.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

I can't breathe.

"Why? Did something happen? Is something wrong?"

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

"There was an incident late yesterday afternoon," my father starts.

His words, unfinished, steal the air from my lungs. The full panic of possibility hits me like a Mack truck. My entire body shakes, my ears ring, my eyes burn. I keep tapping.

Kyler. Kyler. Kyler. Kyler. Kyler.

Be okay. Please.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

"Kyler got into an altercation with his manager.'

I start to cry.

Claire's hand darts to my knee. "Oh hunny, Silas says Kyler's fine. He walked away from the altercation but, um, that's sort of the problem. He walked away. He left everything, even his cell phone behind. I'm afraid they don't know exactly where he is. They can't find him."

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap. Tap.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five.

Kyler. Kyler. Kyler. Kyler. Kyler.

Please be okay. Please.