When the boyfriends started showing up Noah was visited by a pressing desire to get Allie out of there. His mother just wasn’t very good at being patient with  Allie when she had a suitor in the house. Sometimes he could talk his father into taking Allie with them when they went out to dinner and even overnight to his house but eventually, there came a day when Noah proposed he take Allie to a late afternoon movie when Caroline was expecting some guy to stop by. Toy Story 2 was playing at The Mall. His mother was so pleased with the plan she insisted she drive them there and dropped them off outside The Mall entrance. Noah agreed quietly although by then he was pretty sure he could have gotten them there by bus.

The problem with the movie was the first scene. Toy Story 2 begins with a video game that Allie did not recognize as a game;  in it, the toy dinosaur Rex is trying to defeat a  Darth Vadar-like monster name Zurg. Allie got so scared that she jumped out of her seat, stumbled across her brother and ran out of the theater. Noah had to follow her. Unfortunately, in her terror, she had wet her pants so he took her down to the family bathroom by the Game Room and once there, removed her tiny underpants with the Minnie Mouses on them and threw them in the trash. Allie was fond of Minnie so this did not go over well until Noah explained to her that she was going to be like a space toy herself able to  pull up her leggings  without any underpants and “go commando.”

With some persuasion, he got her back into the movie theater but the movie was just too complicated for Allie.  There were some scenes she followed, like when Woody ripped his arm off and when the penguin couldn’t squeak but the larger plot was convoluted and she quickly lost interest. She squirmed around in her seat while Noah tried to placate her with popcorn. Eventually, she sat on the floor under her seat and began eating discarded popcorn off the floor. Noah realized with disappointment that he was not going to stay long enough to learn whether Buzz Lightyear rescued Woody so he resolutely hauled her out from under his feet and set to the task of finding some other way to kill time in the brightly lit Mall.

It was definitely too soon to go home. His mother would be apoplectic if he called her now and besides, he had no interest in meeting her latest dude. Allie didn’t like these interlopers and couldn’t be convinced to ignore them so returning home would lead to conflict between her and her mother.  So he took his sister’s hand and headed up the central thoroughfare toward the Game Room again. He had money, as usual, and thought he might be able to start her on some of the easier games if the place wasn’t too crowded or the environment too hostile. If that didn’t work, he could take her to Dalton Books. He loved it there and the bookstore included a nook with little kid books where they could hang for a while.

“What the fuck!” came Fat Tom’s too familiar voice as they entered the darkened Game Room. Noah spotted him immediately. He was with Dezzy playing Grand Theft Auto. Noah grabbed his sister’s hand to exit but she had developed a sudden interest in some dumb machine that delivered cheap stuffed toys for every token inserted. Some of them looked more trash than toy but Noah heaved a sigh and went to purchase tokens. He could feel his neck burning with dread and confusion as he turned his back toward Tom and Dezzy.  He was just waiting to appear in their spotlight.

Before Dezzy and Fat Tom noticed Caroline Shorter’s children, however, they got into an altercation with the Game Room supervisor. Noah didn’t catch the beginning but he intuited that Fat Tom was doing something rough and stupid, like trying to lift a machine to alter play or to activate it without using a token. The supervisor instructed Tom patiently to stop hipping the machine and suggested he buy more tokens or leave. Tom’s response was predictably feisty but his interest in the confrontation was abbreviated because he suddenly spotted Noah.

“Noseark! The dude is in the Room!” Tom hollered with unrestrained relish. “He’ll give me some tokens, won’t ya, dude? He’s the man!”

Noah did not turn around. The supervisor who Noah could not see said nothing. The woman cashier was also silent. She looked from Noah with his ten-dollar bill, to the group behind him without saying a word, then she handed him his tokens.

“You’re hurting me,” Allie protested and Noah realized he had her hand clenched in a death grip.

“Be careful of the kid,”  the woman cashier scolded.

He turned around, loosening his grip on his sister and faced Fat Tom and the supervisor, Dezzy behind them.

“You got tokens, Noseark?  Lend me a few tokens, Bro. I’ll make it worth your while.”

Noah tried to keep his face expressionless. He quickly assessed that neither the cashier behind him nor the cowed supervisor would offer any assistance. His best bet was probably to just give Fat Tom the tokens and get himself and Allie out of there. But giving him all the tokens seemed too weak, so he separated them into two piles and put one in his pocket. Still holding Allie’s hand, he turned and placed the remaining tokens on the cashier’s counter behind him. “He can have these,” Noah told her. “Now tell him to leave us alone.”

The cashier snorted, Tom grabbed the tokens with a triumphant squeal and the ineffectual supervisor seemed to fade into the woodwork. As Noah left the Game Room, he heard Dezzy protest weakly:” He’s got his sister with ‘em, Tom.” It sounded as though Dezy thought Tom had not been playing fair as if playing fair was ever Tom’s intention.

Noah led Allie across the central artery of The Mall and slipped into Dalton Books without turning back to The Game Room. His mind was emptied by fear. He knew it was unlikely Fat Tom was through with him. Giving him those tokens was like giving a bully your lunch. He’d just be back for more. But for right now Fat Tom was occupied with his bully tokens and Noah had gotten Allie away from that particular danger. The bookstore offered its sweet reprieve.

Noah was pretty certain that Fat Tom had never seen the inside of a bookstore and was unlikely to follow them there.

He sat on the floor in the kids’ section where Allie instantly helped herself to the soft covered books left on the floor by previous readers. Noah’s mind was still an ice-sheet, frozen in terror and brightly lit by the knowledge that they were still not completely out of danger. He picked up a Richard Scarry book, What do People Do All Day? And was momentarily jolted by irony. He lifted his head from the book and scanned the store. Allie was at his side, mumbling contentedly, apparently deep in conversation with Lowly Worm. Across the room there was a vaguely familiar teenager in a big chair, seemingly engrossed in a book. Elsewhere a few browsers took books off the shelf and perused them. Over at checkout, there was a single cashier processing purchasers.

Then Fat Tom came crashing in, loud, obnoxious and accompanied by not just Dezzy but by a young girl, one that  Noah had encountered in the school nurse’s office. His eyes widened in apprehension and he dimly registered the physical similarities. This girl was apparently Dezzy’s sister.

“Leave the kid alone, Tom,” Dezzy muttered as he tailed his friend.

“Leave him alone? Come on, Dez. Noseark’s my man, and we know he has more tokens,” Tom bellowed, having caught sight of Noah.

Everyone in the store turned to follow Tom and his entourage into the store.   Like a tornado on a summer afternoon, they arrived loud, minacious, ominous but beyond anyone’s ability to stop.

Noah stood up and took a step over his little sister placing himself between her and the approaching trio.

“Noseark, my man!” howled Tom homing in on the kids’ nook. He spotted the other teenager in the chair and without losing a beat, called out, “Hey, it’s The Finn fag! Geeks’ a gathering in ye old bookstore,” he quipped.

Noah reached into his pocket to gather up the tokens. He thought of his step-father’s gun.

“Whaddya want?” Noah snapped, his anger blooming from his impotence.

“Ah, don’t be a whiner, Noseark, you know what I’m here for.” Tom ‘s voice was decibels above Noah’s; he radiated confidence. The single adult in the bookstore, the cashier, was following him with her eyes. Noah knew she would offer no help.

“Noah,” Allie spoke his name urgently as she grabbed at his pant leg. “Noah, I gotta go potty,” she announced.

Tom and his two companions stopped short and stared at Allie.

“I’ll take her,” offered Dezzy’s sister.

“No!” barked Noah. “I’ll take her myself.”

Tom took a step in front of them and stood with his legs planted and far apart. He was as large and square as a refrigerator.

“You give me them tokens, Noseark, or she pees her pants right here in this bookstore,” Tom announced, his tone made more scornful on the first syllable of bookstore.

“Leave ’em alone, Tom.” This was Dezzy now, with the girl,  his sister, having grabbed his arm and communicated some urgent compassion. “You want a ride home, Tom, we gotta go now.”

“I ain’t goin’ till I get what I come for,” Tom answered without taking his eyes off Noah.

“Noah, please,” Allie whimpered, crossing and uncrossing her legs.

Noah reached into his pocket for the handful of tokens, simultaneously sensing that there was movement on the periphery. He set his jaw and reached out his handful of tokens toward Tom, who leered contentedly, reaching for them. At the last second,  Noah flipped his hand and released the tokens onto the floor.

Heading quickly for the door he heard Tom behind him: “What the fuck do you want, Fag?”

The kid from the armchair had risen. “You wanna fight for ‘em, ya fag? Me and my man, Dezzy?”

But Dezzy and his sister were no longer with Tom in the bookstore. They had followed Noah and Allie to The Mall.

“Nope. Not gonna fight,” the guy answered smoothly. “Just gonna stand here and watch you pick ‘em up. One by one.”

“You boys get on out of here before I call the police,” the cashier hollered.

Without turning around, Noah could feel Tom’s rage. But now it made him want to laugh. How the hell did that guy know exactly what to say to bring Tom down? Without having to pull a gun or punch anyone?

“Oh, no!” Dezzy’s sister squealed. Noah turned to Allie, who was wetting her pants.

Noah cleaned her up a little in the family bathroom but there wasn’t much he could do. She had no underwear and her leggings were sodden. He’d have to walk down The Mall to Walmart and buy her new pants but his immediate problem was avoiding Tom.

Outside the family restroom, Noah found them waiting for him.

“Oh, she’s so cute!” Dezzy’s sister squealed as she knelt in front of Allie. “But it’s cold outside, Noah, you gotta cover up that cute little butt.”

Noah knelt beside Allie and wrapped the arms of her jacket around her waist so it hung like a skirt to her knees.

“Good job!” The girl affirmed as if Noah cared.

“You need a ride?” It was the kid Noah did not know. “Wanna go for a ride? I’ve got my father’s car. We’ll take a ride and then I’ll drop you home. We’ve got this.”

Noah nodded with numbed joy. Yes, yes, yes.

“Here comes Tom,” Dezzy warned. “You better get outta here.”

“I’ll meet you in the parking lot at the rear entrance of Walmart. Get our girl here some pants and see if you can arrive without smelling like piss,” the new kid suggested good-naturedly.

Noah lifted his sister to his hip, knowing she should be cleaned up, knowing he’d likely smell like piss. He strode toward Walmart without another word. The new kid walked along with him, just once muttering, “OK, second speed. He’s seen us.”

Fat Tom did not catch up with them. Noah quickly found the little girls’ department, grabbed a pair of pull on flannel pants that turned out to be much too big and a three-pack of underpants that fit perfectly. The cashier was grumpy and uncooperative. She mentioned that it wasn’t right to be carrying around a half-naked little girl. Embarrassed, Noah nodded, paid for his purchases and headed to the back door to the parking lot. In the foyer he dressed his sister, transferring her jacket to its original purpose and then pushing out into the slushy glooming.

The kid, who Tom had called Finn, appeared immediately at the wheel of a blue Prius. Noah and Allie jumped into the passenger’s seat. Noah grabbed the seatbelt and latched it around the two of them, then he heaved a huge sigh of relief. Allie turned and stared at the driver.

“Hey, kiddo. I’m Finn. What’s your name?”

She just stared at him.

“Ok, so how old are you?”

“This is Allie,” Noah answered. “I’m Noah Krasnow.”

“Yeah, I remember you from soccer. Remember we played on those teams when we were little kids? Our fathers both coached, “ Finn laughed. “Such as it was,” he laughed.

Noah did remember it vaguely. Then suddenly he remembered Finn had been a really bad soccer player, all alone out in the field studying the sunlight in the trees and while his teammates raced across the field after the ball. He laughed nervously.

“Coming back to you, is it? I really sucked. Memorably sucked, “ Finn laughed wryly as he turned on his blinker and steered the car out of the parking lot into traffic. “Wanna go for a ride? Get our calm vibe back? We could go down River Road. I’ve probably got an hour before I have to get my dad’s car back.”

Noah thought it sounded like heaven.

“Fish?” asked Allie.

“Finn, not Fish,” answered her driver. “Technically fish have fins but I’m not technically a fish. So there you have it, Miss Allie.” He winked at her and she stared at him intently.

“No staring, Allie. Look, the river’s like a mirror,” Noah pointed out as they pulled onto the parkway. Across the river, the colored lights blinked on one by one and stretched their long sparkly tails across the still river.  Noah breathed in deeply. It was beautiful.

“What we need is some music,” Finn announced. “What’s your preference?” he asked his passengers.

“I don’t know anything about music. My mother homeschooled me for a while and I learned a lot about math and science. I listened to all these great books on tape. But never music. I never learned anything about music,” Noah felt a sudden sadness at the loss, at his inadequacy and it was captured in his voice.

“Hey, man. You can listen, can’t you? If you can listen, then you’re in with the tunes,” Finn told him. He reached into the valley between the seats and pulled out a couple of CDs. “Just listen and tell me what you hear,” he told them. “Tell me what instruments you can hear.”

He popped in the Hollies and the harmonica introduction swept over Noah like a soothing breeze.

The road is long….

“What was that? What was the instrument?” Noah asked excitedly.

“Harmonica, my friend. An instrument you can pick up at Dalton Books. And probably teach yourself to play.”

He’s not heavy, he’s my brother…

And Allie turned to Finn and pointed to Noah. “My brother,” she announced, joining the conversation.

The boys both laughed. Neither of them noticed the flashing light immediately, neither of them realized until the siren sounded that the cop car was trailing them.

“Oh, shit, shit, shit…” Finn stuttered, pulling over. “Oh, shit. Sorry to swear. Just shit, shit, shit.”

He reached into the glove compartment for the registration, then pulled back and opened his window as the officer approached the car.

Finn’s eyes were as wide as saucers. Noah wished his father was there. He’d know what to do.

Finn grabbed the steering wheel at ten and two and lowered his head toward the rim.

‘Focus,” he muttered. “Just focus on the music.”

Focus on the music? Who is he talking to, Noah wondered.

“It was a great harmonic riff,” he offered and Finn grinned at him just as the officer appeared at the driver’s side window.

“Hello, Officer. Was I doing something wrong?” Finn asked.

“License and registration,” the officer articulated, no greeting, no smile, no reassurance. Noah scrambled to hand them over.

“Stay in the car,” he ordered and returned to his car.

“Holy shit, holy shit…” Finn muttered, tracking him in the rearview mirror. In a few minutes, the officer returned.

“Ok, Jared. These seem to be in order. Your violation involves your young passenger here. She should be in a car seat in the rear seat. Where’s the car seat?”

“Oh, right. Yeah. I mean, I don’t have one. I just ran into my friends here at The Mall and they needed a ride home so I offered. Didn’t really think about a car seat. Sheez, that was stupid. Is that a law?”

“Yeah, it’s a law. I’ll bet this little girl travels in a car seat when she’s with her mother. Don’t you, honey?”

Allie did not answer the officer. Instead, she buried her head in Noah’s chest.

“You the brother?” The officer asked him.

‘Yes, sir,”

“Well, you should know better. So get your sister into the back seat.” He turned back to Finn. “Jared, you get your friends home by the most direct route. Drive slowly. And do not take this little girl out again without a car seat. How would you feel if you were rear-ended and the little girl became a missile through the front windshield?”

“Oh, sheez, no. That’d be terrible. I just didn’t think!” Finn groaned with visible regret.

“Ok, I’ll let you off the hook this time. But don’t let me find you cruising with this child without a car seat in the future.” He slammed with car roof with his flat hand. “Now, get going. Straight home.”

“Yes, sir, ” “yes, sir,” Noah and Finn spoke almost simultaneous and then laughed. The officer slammed the top of the car and turned back to his squad car,

Noah was still laughing as he opened the passenger’s side door and relocated Allie behind him in the back seat. He secured her seatbelt. Her eyes were still wide from the encounter with the policeman. As he hustled back into the passenger’s seat, Allie began to protest her exile.

“Jared?” Noah asked. Finn snorted as he put the vehicle in gear and pulled back onto the parkway.

“Oh yeah, my brother,” Finn told him. “He’s old enough to drive.”

“Doesn’t he mind you use his license?” Noah asked, realizing that Finn himself was not old enough to drive and that they had just gotten away with outsmarting a cop.

“Nah. He doesn’t mind,” Finn responded evasively.

“Noah, I wanna be in front with you,” Allie insisted. “With you and Fish.”

Both boys laughed.

“I’m not a fish, kiddo, but I do have a friend who’s a frog,” Finn told her. He shuffled through the CDs in the bin and pulled out Three Dog Night. “Put this one in, Nosearck.”

“Please,” Noah answered inserting the CD. “That guy just rides me.”

“Hey, man, you did all right with the token toss. I liked that. He didn’t.” Finn punched a number to move to a specific song. Then he began singing.

Jeremiah was a bullfrog,

Was a good friend of mine,

I never understood a single word he said

But I use to help him drink his wine

 The second time Finn played the song they all three sang at the top of their lungs and were still singing when the car pulled into the driveway at the Shorter house on Stone Street.

And you know he had some mighty fine wine……

As they got out of the car, Noah felt a jolt of impending loss. Finn would never take them for a ride again. There was no car seat and that was that. He grappled with a sudden desire to cry.

“Thanks, Finn. Sorry about the car seat thing,” he offered gruffly.

“No big deal. Glad we stuck it to Fat Tom. Plus you’re now into the harmonica, man. Next time we can play together,” Finn told him. “Bye, Allie. Be a good kiddo.”

Allie answered by singing: “Joy to the finnies in the deep blue sea, joy to you and me.”

Noah dragged his sister toward the empty house, fighting tears he could not begin to explain.