“That’s an order that officially warns a person to stay away from someone who’s afraid of that person. If he violates the order, he could be immediately arrested. Your mother could talk that over with you tomorrow. ”

“No,” Darcy responded. “But tell him to go away. ”

Just then, Jamee came out of her bedroom. The loud music in her room had prevented her from hearing Darcy’s call to the police department. She looked shocked to find the police in the living room.

The officer looked at Jamee, then at Darcy. “What is that all about?” he asked, his gaze on Jamee’s bruised face.

“I fell during cheerleader practice,” Jamee said shrilly. “If she’s told you something else, it’s a lie!”

“Jamee,” Darcy said, grabbing her sister’s hand and pulling her to the window. “Look out the window at the Toyota—that’s Dad. He was sitting out there and I didn’t know who he was and I called the police. He’s been trying to talk to us. ”

Jamee stared through the window. “That lump in the car? That fat guy? That’s not my father. That’s not Daddy. . . . ” Jamee caught her breath, and her gasp ended in a sob. “Is it?”

Chapter 6

“Yeah, Jamee, it is,” Darcy said.

“Ohhh,” Jamee groaned, her hands clasped to her cheeks.

“Well, I’ll go down there and tell him you don’t want to be bothered,” the officer said.

Darcy and Jamee watched as the officer returned to the Toyota and talked to their father for a few minutes. Darcy saw the officer take a slip of paper from her father’s hand.

“He’s coming back up here,” Jamee said nervously. “The cop is coming back. ”

At the apartment door the officer gave Darcy the paper. It had a phone number written on it. Darcy always thought her father had beautiful handwriting. He had gone to a small grammar school down South where they were strict about penmanship. The phone number was written in his familiar fancy script. It brought a fresh rush of pain into Darcy’s heart.

“He said he won’t bother you anymore,” the officer told them, “but if you ever want to contact him, this is the number to use, miss. He said he’d stay away from here and from your school. I don’t think you need to worry about him annoying you again. ”

Darcy nodded and mumbled a “thank you” clutching the note in her fingers. The girls watched as the Toyota left, and then the police car. They could not tell if their father glanced up one more time at the apartment window.

Jamee walked over to the kitchen table and sat down. She looked stunned. “Why would he come back here after all this time?”