Crowned and Moldering

“Sixteen, but I’m practically seventeen.”

“In six months,” Mac pointed out casually. “That doesn’t quite qualify as practically.”

“But I’m mature for my age.”

Mac chuckled, but left it at that.

“Is Callie short for something?” I asked.

She smiled. “It’s short for Calla Lily.”

“That’s pretty.”

“I like it. It’s different. My mother was a flower child.”

“When she was young,” Mac added. “She grew up to be a shark.”

A little confused, I turned back to Callie. “Are you still in school?”

“Um.” She cast a cautious glance at her uncle, who was watching her every move. “Well, that’s the thing.”

Mac raised one eyebrow. “That’s the thing? Exactly what thing is that thing?”

She made an exasperated sound. “Uncle Mac, you’re being weird.”

“Uncles are supposed to be weird,” he said, as if that explained everything. It didn’t, of course, and I expected him to revisit her comment about that thing shortly. And if he didn’t, I would. Because now I was desperate to know what that thing was.

Mac still hadn’t made the call. I figured he wanted to hear Callie out completely first.

“What does your mom do, Callie?” I asked, although I was fairly certain I knew.

“She’s a lawyer.”

Just as I suspected. “Thus your shark reference.”

Mac gri

“So she’s a lawyer. That sounds interesting.” I sipped my water. “What kind of law does she practice that takes her to Europe?”

She pursed her lips in thought. “I’m not sure this is exactly right, but she calls it white-collar crime.”

“So her clients are businessmen?”

“Well, sort of, but not exactly.” Callie scratched behind Robbie’s ears and sent my little dog into spasms of ecstasy. Whatever else happened here today, my dog was seriously in love. “I mean, I suppose they have white collars, but they’re more like war criminals and drug kingpins than actual businessmen. And she worked with some mafioso guys a few years ago. And there was that gang member a while ago. Remember him, Uncle Mac?”

“Oh yeah.”

I blinked. Mac walked over and stood behind me, gave my shoulders a comforting rub, then reached down to take hold of my hand in his. I clutched his hand tightly and contemplated the fact that he had a sister and a niece who dealt with dangerous criminals.

“So,” I said, trying to sound casual. “I’ll bet that’s a really intense job.”

Callie nodded. “She does a lot of yoga.”

I could feel Mac’s arms shaking and knew he was laughing. This was the strangest conversation I’d ever had with anyone.

“How did you get here, Callie?” I asked, still clutching Mac’s hand.

Her eyes brightened. “I figured it out all by myself. Did you know there’s no direct route from LA to here if you’re not driving a car? So basically, I rode my bike from my house to the Culver City Metro station and took the Metro to Union Station in downtown LA. I got a ticket on the Coast Starlight train to Oakland and from there, I transferred to the Capitol Corridor train to someplace called Martinez and then I got on the bus to Ukiah.”

I was sort of impressed. This was one determined, very smart girl.

I didn’t want to look at Mac because I knew his eyes had to be bulging out of his head. His sixteen-year-old niece had been wandering around the train stations in downtown LA, Oakland, and Martinez? Fascinating.

“Once you get to Ukiah,” I said, prompting her to continue, “it’s pretty easy to take a bus to the coast.”

“I was going to do that, but since I had my bike on the train with me, I found this really cool app with some great bike routes. So I ended up riding along Highway 253 to Highway 128. And I ended up here.”

“That’s a long ride.”

“Yeah. I didn’t really realize how long it was when I decided to go that way. I mean, I passed other riders on the road, but it’s kind of lonely. But I just kept riding.”

Mac shook his head, then looked at me. “Do you know that area?”

“Yeah,” I said. “I’ve ridden along Highway 253 a few times. It’s a tough ride through the hills, but the scenery is beautiful.”

It could actually be treacherous and some areas were indeed desolate, but Mac didn’t appear ready to take in that much reality. He seemed to be trying to control his breathing. I couldn’t blame him.

“It was so much fun,” Callie said, sounding younger than she had before. “I like to ride my bike.”

“Yeah, me, too,” I said, fascinated by her ability to switch from worldly teenager to happy kid in the span of a sentence or two.

“So, how did you find me?” Mac asked.

“That was the easiest part. When I rode into town, I just went into a store and mentioned your name and asked directions.” She leaned in closer, as if to share a secret. “Uncle Mac, are you aware that a bunch of people around here know where you live? Isn’t that weird for you?”

“Not anymore,” Mac said. “That’s how it is living in a small town.”

She smiled at him. “Do you have a lot of friends?”

“I’m getting to know more and more people and they’re all good folks.”

“That’s so nice.” Her voice was wistful now. “In our neighborhood, nobody really talks to anybody because we all live behind these really high walls, so you can’t even see the houses. But here I saw people sitting on their front porches and that looked like fun, too. I miss seeing you, Uncle Mac, but I’m glad you’re happy.”

“I’m happy about that, too, and I’m glad you’re here.” He held up his phone and wiggled it. “But I think we’ve procrastinated long enough. I’m going to make the call.”

“Okay.” She bent over and buried her face in Robbie’s scruffy neck, almost as if she could hide from her mother.

“I hope this goes through,” he muttered, and pressed a button on his phone. He paced around the kitchen, waiting for the call to go through, and after a few long seconds he stopped and stood at attention. “Lauren? It’s Mac.”

He paused for a long moment, then said, “Yeah, sorry to wake you up, sis, but it’s important.” Another pause. “Listen, Callie showed up here a little while ago. She’s fine, but it looks like she’s going to stay with me for a few days until you get back to town.”

Callie looked pale now. She stared out at nothing and continued to pet Robbie. I felt sorry for her and began to wonder where her father was. Neither she nor Mac had mentioned him.

“School? What about school?” His eyes narrowed in on Callie as he listened to his sister. “She’s suspended? Ah. Nice of the principal to text you.”

Callie winced but kept her gaze on Robbie, not daring to make eye contact with her uncle.

Mac held the phone away from his ear and I could hear Callie’s mom yelling from halfway across the kitchen. Belgium had never seemed closer. Both Mac and Callie looked a little shell-shocked by now.

“Maybe she can go to school here,” I said.

Mac gaped at me, then suddenly gri

Callie, on the other hand, glowered at me.

I could hear her mother saying something but couldn’t understand the words. Mac nodded. “Yeah. Her name is Sha

There was another long pause while Callie’s mother spoke at length.

“I’ll talk to the school on Monday,” Mac said. “When do you get home? Wow.” He nodded. “Okay. Be careful. I’ll keep in touch. Bye, sis.”

We were all silent for a few long moments.

“That seemed to go well,” I said, then watched as Mac and Callie began to laugh. “So . . . it didn’t go well?”

Mac came back around and squeezed my shoulders lightly. “It went as well as could be expected, I guess. My sister is a force of nature, but she agreed that your idea is the perfect solution. Thank you.” He leaned over and kissed my cheek.