Chapter 6

"Have you seen it?"

"Tami?"

"Have you seen it?"

"Tami, It's nine o'clock in the morning. I was up until three playing Monopoly with you, Robbie, Ricky, and Traci. The only thing I've seen is the inside of my eyelids. Oh, and what is it, I haven't seen?"

"People."

"People? The magazine?"

"Duh."

"Tami, the last time I read People was in March or something. They had Lindsey Lohan on the cover."

"You and your redheads."

"What can I say?"

"I think you should read it."

"Okay. Ricky's still asleep on the coach. I'll be over in a couple."

"Robbie's asleep too, but I don't have it."

I counted to ten slowly. "Tami..." I counted to ten in Spanish, "why..." I counted to ten in German, "are you calling then?"

"Mom called from the office. She thought we should know."

I wished I knew my numbers in a couple more languages. I'd have to work on that. I knew Tami well enough to know there was something she didn't want to tell me. "Okay, I'll get dressed and we'll ride our bikes up to the store." I hung up and made a mental note to learn one to ten in Russian, Swahili, and Chinese.

The ride to the store finished the process of waking me up. It was a beautiful day, but what else would you expect for the first day of August. The temperature hadn't started climbing yet. It was probably about seventy as we pedaled along the highway.

In the store, the small rack only had about two dozen different magazines, but People was in front. "What am I looking for?" I asked as I flipped it open to the table of contents on page eight. It used to be the contents were on two or three, but more and more advertising seemed to find it's way to the front.

"I think we should take it outside," she suggested.

I gave her a look. There was definitely something she didn't want to tell me. I bought the magazine, along with a Coke for me, an orange juice for her and a dozen donuts.

Outside, Tami pointed at the bench, but I shook my head. I knew there was something in here that I wasn't going to like, though I didn't have a clue what. Unless Lindsey Lohan had decided to become a blond. And while that would be a tragedy, it wasn't something Mrs. Sharp would call home about. I figured why ruin the ride home.

Back at the park, we settled on the swings and had breakfast. Three donuts for me, two for Tami and save the rest for Robbie, Ricky and Traci.