“Will, I’m just really worried,” Tabitha told her husband. “I know we wanted to do the right thing by moving here, but did we really?”
Dylan knew he should not be eavesdropping, but he still did it. He had stayed up and watched a movie in his bedroom when he was not supposed to. His attempt to sneak out and get a drink of water was what now resulted in the teen sitting in the hallway, listening to his parents discuss Howell in the kitchen.
“I know,” Will said soothingly. “But at least he hasn’t run like he did two years ago. He went to school and he came here with Dylan afterwards. That’s something.”
The summer of two years ago had been a difficult one for the entire family. Dylan only remembered it vaguely, but about half way through the summer Howell had just disappeared. All of the adults were very stressed during that time and they all had blamed themselves for pressing Howell too hard for information. No one had known if Howell was all right until he just showed up the next summer.
“I just can’t help but worry,” Tabi sighed. “I know you love your sister, but even you have told me that she can get violent without her medication. Not to mention I know very little about the father’s mental state. What if they haven’t been taking any medication?”
“You ask me that question every time,” Will told her. “All we can do is let Ash know that we are here for him if he needs help. And I hate to admit this, but we’re going to have to spy on him through Dylan like we have been.”
That was news to Dylan. Every time he had hung out with Howell or had gotten news from his cousin, Dylan could remember his mom and step-dad asking him about it, but he had never thought of it as spying. Effective information gathering was what Dylan had preferred to think of what he was doing, but he felt a little guilty when it was referred to as spying.
It was not that he talked with Howell just to get information from his cousin. Dylan had always gotten hints of his parents’ concern and he had played off of that. The first time he had overheard his parents talking in the kitchen had been when Dylan realized just how unstable his cousin’s parents were.
“I’m going to get him a cellphone,” Will announced. “He’ll probably keep it off and never use it, but at least he’ll have and know he can contact us any time.”
“How are you going to get him to take it?” Tabi asked.
“I’m going to buy Dylan a new one and give Howell the old one as a hand-me-down. He’s been getting hand-me-downs for years that I think he just might accept it before he realizes what he’s getting. I hate being manipulative like this.”
“It’s necessary,” Tabi assured. “Just in case. And maybe he’ll finally come to us when he needs help.”
Dylan went back to his room, his need for water completely forgotten. This was not the first time he had over heard his parents talk about his cousin, but it was the first time that Dylan had really let the words sink in. Howell would let himself be pushed, but if he is pushed too hard or far then he always found his own way out, which usually involved leaving. Dylan had already learned that years ago.
Even the fact that he was sort of spying on his cousin, or that Howell’s parents could possibly be abusive were not news to Dylan. It had just finally registered in Dylan’s mind what a huge risk had been taken with this move. It had taken them years to find out which city Howell lived in, and his cousin could have just vanished after they had moved.
Flopping onto the bottom bunk, Dylan let out a sigh of frustration. His parents’ concerns always ate at him. It felt like if anything happened to Howell, then Dylan would be responsible because he was supposed to be the one looking out for his cousin. It was hard to look out for someone who never told you anything.
Dylan turned his television back on and found one of his favorite shows. He did not car how late it was or if he got caught. At the moment he just wanted to watch people saving the world, since it felt like he could not even save his own cousin.
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