“Gloria said you don’t need to set foot inside her house now.”

He lifted the bag up by the handles and tucked it behind his seat. “She did, did she? Her house.”

I sipped at the air. “I don’t know. Maybe not. I don’t think.” It smelled clean in there. A cardboard lemon swung from the mirror.

“Never you mind, Bids. That’s between me and your mother. She shouldn’t be giving you my guns, is all.”

“They weren’t very heavy,” I said.

Telly drove the truck around and when we came out of the circle he stopped where a lady was standing on the side of the road. She was wearing a frilly dress the color of peaches and the wind lifted it up. Telly got out and the lady slid under the steering wheel and went in the middle.

“Hello, Maisy,” she said. “My name’s Dian. I’m your dad’s friend.”

“Don’t be shy,” Telly said as we drove away.

“Hi,” I whispered.

She was in the same spot where Gloria sat that time Telly drove us home from the police place. But she didn’t put her hands all inside Telly’s clothes like Gloria did.

“Do you want to have brunch?”

I shook my head. I never had a brunch before.

“It’s kind of like breakfast and lunch mixed together. You can choose lunch things, you know, burgers or fried chicken or a grilled cheese, or you can have breakfast. Waffles. Sausages. Or both of it together, if that’s what you want.” Her hands were in her lap now. “It’s okay. You don’t need to say anything. We’re going to have a nice time.”

My mouth filled up with spit. I knew that lady was trying to trick me. She was pretending to be nice.

We went to a spot called Barney’s Diner. It had red booths and plastic tables and the floor was a black-and-white checkerboard. Telly said, “Go on, Bids. Whatever you want.”

A lady in an apron was beside my shoulder with a pencil and notepad. I pointed to the picture of blueberry pancakes and sausages on my placemat. “And that,” I said. “Strawberry milkshake.”

When the food came, I knew Telly’s friend was reading my mind. “Don’t worry,” she said soft. “If you can’t finish it all. I never manage.”

The milkshake was good. The pancakes were really good. I burst some of the blueberries between my teeth.

“Yum, hey?” Telly said. He smiled. His teeth were so dazzly. I could see why his friend liked him so much, even though he looked like a stranger to me.

I nodded. “Yum.”

“We’re going to do this regular, Maise. I promise. You, me, and Dian.”

“No reason we shouldn’t,” she said.