Exit Point by Laura Langston Read Free Book Online

like him. I know he believes Hannah. He is just trying to protect her.
    “Yes.” Hannah nods. “And Amy said Herb touched her and she didn’t want to go back to his house.”
    Mom and Dad exchange glances. Mom is thinking, This can’t be happening. Dad is thinking, Hannah has always been melodramatic. My sister is thinking, Now he’ll slice me in half like Pookie.
    “Amy?” Mom asks softly. “Did Uncle Herb touch you?”
    Amy is silent.
    Dad tries. “Is there anything you want to tell us, princess?”
    Dad! I cry . Of course she doesn’t want to tell you. She doesn’t want to believe it happened.
    My sister’s voice is muffled in the folds of Mom’s sweater. “I don’t want to go back there,” she says.
    As Mom reassures my sister, Dad looks at Hannah and Mr. Sinclair. “I appreciate you calling us. We’ll take it from here.”

Chapter Nine
    He thinks he is going to get away with it.
    But he won’t. Not if I can help it.
    I am in our kitchen with Amy. In the living room, my parents are telling Susan and Herb what Hannah has said.
    Amy knows that in a few minutes she will be called out, and she will have to face him. She sits on the edge of the chair, head forward, brown hair curved around her cheeks, staring into her chocolate milk. Shewonders how she can make the badness go away. Hannah was supposed to be her friend. Hannah has made things worse.
    No she hasn’t, Amy.
    I blow a breeze across the top of the milk, creating tiny bubbles.
    Amy doesn’t even smile.
    The time for smiles is over.
    Amy is still afraid. In fact, she is more afraid than ever. I make her think about truth, and how important it is to be truthful. But Amy believes it is safer to lie.
    The air in our kitchen shimmers and flickers. Amy can’t see it; I can. My senses are changing, getting sharper. I am more aware of the other side, the side called death. And how it connects with the living.
    My body is changing too. When I first died, I looked solid, real. Now when I look at my hands and legs, I see smudgy shadows. It’s like I’m slowly dissolving.
    Wade is here somewhere. I feel him. I feel Amy’s guides too. They are trying to comfort her and give her the courage to do the right thing.
    But my sister...my sister is so young. And this is the hardest thing she has ever gone through.
    Witnessing her terror makes me feel as scared and as helpless as I did at my funeral.
    I cannot watch.
    “You know I would never hurt Amy.” The rat bastard leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees. He keeps his wide blue eyes on Mom and Dad. To the living, he is the picture of innocence. Being dead, I see the evil that rides on his shoulders like a spare arm. Like a claw. “I love that kid.”
    He sits in the green wingback chair; Susan sits in the chair beside him. Mom and Dad are on the couch opposite. Someone has made coffee. Four full cups sit untouched on the coffee table between them.
    “Hannah says Amy’s shirt was undone.” Dad runs a hand through his hair. He is so sick about this, he feels nauseous. “And your fly was too.”
    Herb’s grin is a touch embarrassed. “I’d gone to the john. I was in a hurry to checkAmy’s rash and get back to Brad’s game.” He raises an eyebrow. “I don’t know why Hannah would be looking down there. ” He pauses just long enough to suggest that Hannah was the one in the wrong. “But if she says my fly was undone, then I guess I forgot to do it up.”
    You animal , I scream. You lying bastard.
    There are nods all around. Everyone wants to believe him. They need to believe him. If they don’t, they will be forced to admit there is a monster in our family.
    Mom’s voice quavers. “Amy told Hannah you touched her.”
    “Of course I touched her,” Herb says. “I was looking for the rash.”
    The air in our living room swirls with truth and lies, goodness and evil. Others are here. I sense them crowding around me, watching this horror, yearning for justice.
    “I’m sure this is all