Free Three Little Words by Harvey Sarah N.

were all wild Irish redheads.”
    â€œI remember her hair,” Sid says. “Devi’s hair.”
    â€œHer hair was glorious,” Elizabeth says. “Like yours. But it’s gray now. And short.”
    â€œYeah. I saw a picture. Of her and Wain and you.”
    When he doesn’t continue, Elizabeth says, “It’s all a bit of a shock, isn’t it?”
    â€œYup,” Sid says, thinking of Wain’s blue-black skin, his white grin. “Did you really not know about me?” It’s hard for him to imagine keeping such an enormous secret for so long, although if he is honest, he knows he’s probably capable of it. He wonders how Devi felt after she left him with Megan. Ashamed? Worthless? Sad? Even so—not telling your own mother that you have a child—that’s huge. And kind of cruel.
    â€œThe first I heard of you was a week ago, when Wain disappeared and Phil decided to tell me Devi’s secret. He’s been a good friend to her—and to me—but I wish he hadn’t waited so long to tell me.” Elizabeth reaches over and touches Sid lightly on the arm. “But you’re here now—that’s what’s important, yes?”
    â€œI guess,” he says. “I’m not really sure why I’m here though. I mean, how am I going to find Wain when you and Phil can’t?”
    â€œI don’t know, dear,” Elizabeth says. “Mostly I just wanted to meet you. I’m sorry if that seems selfish. And we can certainly use your help trying to find Wain. The police are aware that he’s run away, but he’s run away so many times, I don’t think they’re looking all that hard. He’s never been gone this long though. And with Devi gone…well, I’m not as young as I used to be and I don’t have the energy to go out after dark and search for him. Wain and I aren’t as close as we once were. I don’t know his friends anymore. Or where he might go.”
    â€œBut I don’t know him at all,” Sid says. “And I don’t know the city either.”
    Elizabeth sits on the couch and pats the cushion beside her.
    â€œSit down, and I’ll tell you about him. Maybe that will help.”
    Sid turns back to the window. TMI, he thinks. That’s what Chloe would say. Too Much Information. He needs some time to take it all in. A huge gray ferry with a red stripe near the waterline is angling into the harbor— Coho , it says on the bow. It looks impossibly large for the space, a Godzilla of a ship about to crush the tiny wharf. Miraculously, it doesn’t. “I’d rather go for walk,” he says. “If that’s okay with you.”
    Armed with a school photo of Wain and a map of downtown Victoria, Sid sets out alone, promising to be back by lunchtime. Phil says he has things to do and that he will pick Sid up after lunch. Sid worries that Elizabeth is already disappointed in him, but he needs to be alone. She can tell him about Wain over lunch.
    When he comes out of the condo building, he turns left and follows a waterfront walkway in front of a hotel and onto a pale-blue bridge that looks like it’s constructed of rusty Meccano. The pedestrian path is made of wooden planks that vibrate slightly as the cars go by on the other side of a metal railing. There is a red wharf to the right, and Sid smiles at the sight of it. Just like home. He can see people on a grassy verge above the wharf. Maybe he should talk to them about Wain. But as he approaches them, he realizes that they are homeless men, much older than Wain, dirty, some obviously drunk or high. Sid turns away and heads up the street. He passes small stores selling expensive clothing and explores a brick courtyard where a juggler is entertaining a crowd of kids. He knows he should be showing people the picture of Wain, but he’s not ready yet. Besides, most of the people in the courtyard look like tourists: