Free The Living Room by Robert Whitlow Page A

Amy prepared two sandwiches using all three meats, provolone cheese, a slice of tomato, and a brown mustard she knew he liked.
    “Do we have any chips?” he asked as he chewed his first bite.
    Amy placed a bag of chips on the table beside his chair. He ripped it open.
    “This is good,” he said after he’d eaten half of the first sandwich. “You make the best sandwiches in the world.”
    “I’m glad you like it.”
    Amy took a cup of yogurt from the refrigerator for herself and sat down beside him.
    “Tell me more about the game last night,” she said.
    Ian provided a semi-intelligible account of the game between the local high school and Loudon County. Amy knew the basic rules of football, but her ten-year-old son had already passed her in technical knowledge.
    “The Cross Plains defensive backs had trouble tackling their running back once he got past the line of scrimmage. In the second half we started playing an eight-man front. That helped a lot because their quarterback couldn’t pass it very good.”
    “Well. Pass it very well.”
    “When would I use the word ‘good’?”
    “You could say, ‘The Loudon County player wasn’t a good quarterback. He didn’t pass it well.’”
    “That’s not right. He was a good quarterback running the option play. But he was a bad passer.”
    Ian finished the first sandwich and took a big bite from his second one. He showed no sign yet of being full.
    “Do you know the name of the junior varsity player who was talking to Megan at the Pizza Palace?” Amy asked.
    “Nate Drexel,” a female voice responded from behind Amy.
    Megan was standing in the kitchen door in her bare feet and wearing her pajamas. Her hair hadn’t been combed and hung down in her face.
    “We’re just friends,” she continued. “He’s a tenth grader who’s in my World History and Algebra II classes. It was just somebody to talk to.”
    “Okay,” Amy answered. “Are you hungry?”
    “Just thirsty.”
    Megan poured a large glass of orange juice, then sat down at the table beside Ian and reached into the bag of chips.
    “Can you tell me anything else about Crystal?” Amy asked, trying not to sound as anxious as she felt.
    “She messed up the whole night for all of us,” Megan said. “She left the restaurant without telling anyone where she was going and wasn’t there when Bethany’s mom showed up to take us home. We called everyone we knew but couldn’t find her. Then her parents came and got in a big fight in front of everyone.”
    Megan looked at Ian’s sandwich. “Can I have a bite?”
    “I’ll fix one for you,” Amy said immediately. “Same as his?”
    Megan lifted the corner of the bread.
    “Leave it alone!” Ian said.
    “I’m just looking.”
    “Just roast beef for me,” Megan said to Amy.
    Ian finished eating while Amy prepared a sandwich for Megan.
    “I’m going over to Bobby’s house,” he said. “He’s got a new video game.”
    “What kind of game?” Amy asked. “I don’t want you playing anything violent.”
    “It’s all pretend, and his mom is the same as you.”
    “Then I’ll call her.”
    Amy held the phone to her ear while she spread mustard on the bread and talked to Bobby’s mother.
    “Thanks, Nancy,” Amy said as the call ended. “I’ll do the same.”
    “Go ahead,” she said to Ian. “Bobby’s dad checked out the game and said it was okay.”
    “Jack Pickens likes to kill baby deer,” Megan said.
    “It’s not hunting or war,” Ian retorted. “It has something to do with trying to find a treasure.”
    “Those can be creepy if the role-play part is weird.”
    “How do you know about that?” Amy asked.
    “Spend-the-night parties since I was his age.”
    Ian left the kitchen before his permission to play the new game could be revoked.
    “Give up trying to control everything in Ian’s life,” Megan said to Amy. “He has to learn on his own.”
    “Did you learn anything last night?”
    “Yes. The next time I want to