ALEX

  Alex picked her out as soon as he walked in the room. She stood by the punch bowl in a white dress with flowers on it, and she had really long hair. Daddy liked long hair. He glanced around the old school auditorium. People had gathered for a baby shower, with presents piled on a long table. He used to get presents, but that seemed so long ago he barely remembered it. It would be fun to get a surprise. A lady, fat because she was going to have the baby, waited impatiently next to the gifts. He ignored her and the sixty other eating, drinking, partying people in the room, and moved closer to the lady with the long hair. "Hi!" he said, giving her what Daddy said was his perky smile. "Well, hello there," she said brightly and Alex knew right away that she Liked Children. That was a big help. "I'm Alex," he said. "Can I have some punch?" She poured the sweet liquid into a cup for him, and he sipped slowly, looking around. The cake on the table was so thick with frosting he could smell it. Some kids were chasing each other in the corner, sliding over the cracked linoleum, a game for babies. He didnt want to take his eyes off the lady but knew he shouldnt appear too eager. Staring wasnt polite. "How old are you, Alex?" she asked him. "Six." "My name is Michelle," she volunteered, brushing her bangs to the side, the fluorescent lights winking off the dark hair, a graceful wrist, a twisted silver bracelet. He liked that name. There had been a Michelle in his school last year. Or maybe the year before that--the last time hed been in school, whenever that was. "Where's your mom and dad?" she asked him. "Daddy's over there," he said, waving his hand toward a knot of people on the other side of the room. "I don't know where my mom is. I haven't seen her in a long time." He watched as Michelle's eyes softened like melting ice cream. The funny thing was, he told the truth. He was sad about Mommy, even though Mommy didn't like him. "I play baseball," he went on, more cheerfully, and made up a bunch of other stuff to say. He didn't see why pretty Michelle would care what he liked, but she listened because she Liked Children. It always amazed him. It had to be the right moment, and this seemed as good as any. "I have a surprise," he said abruptly. "Do you want to see it?" In a way, he hoped she'd say no, even though he'd be in Trouble if she did. But she must not have seen anything more interesting to do than watch someone else open gifts. "Sure." Relieved, he smiled widely, just as Daddy had coached him, and Michelle who Liked Children followed without pause. They left the auditorium and walked through the short hallway toward the open double doors, a portal of blinding light outside the dim building. "Do you go to school here?" she asked him. He had grown tired of talking. His job was done. "Sure, my room is down there." He gestured carelessly toward some classrooms. "That's the seventh and eighth grade rooms." His throat closed up. The ugly linoleum swam before his eyes. He had made a Mistake. He couldn't make a Mistake. But she didn't stop walking, she still came with him, so maybe it would be all right. Blushing furiously, he mumbled, "Oh, yeah--those aren't my rooms. My room is..." and he let his voice trail off to nothing. Still she didn't stop walking, didn't seem to care that he had made a Mistake. She smelled the spring air, gazed at the blue sky, and paid no attention to where she was going. He led her down the cracked city sidewalk to a small alley next to the school. Two cars were parked illegally, one with its trunk open. Alex pointed to it, a rusting, copper-colored Monte Carlo. "In the trunk," he said, trying to sound sweet, but even he could tell that his voice was strained, strangled. Still she didn't notice, didn't care, just strolled on. Michelle wasn't very smart, he decided. She reached the car and looked into the trunk, empty except for a roll of duct tape, a stained piece of rope and a tire iron. She must have felt someone standing behind her, and turned. But too late. "Surprise," Alex said.