BooksBarbecue
Back The Missing American Save as PDF
Chapters (109)
  1. Part One
  2. ONE
  3. One day earlier
  4. TWO
  5. THREE
  6. FOUR
  7. FIVE
  8. SIX
  9. SEVEN
  10. EIGHT
  11. NINE
  12. TEN
  13. ELEVEN
  14. TWELVE
  15. THIRTEEN
  16. FOURTEEN
  17. FIFTEEN
  18. SIXTEEN
  19. SEVENTEEN
  20. EIGHTEEN
  21. NINETEEN
  22. TWENTY
  23. TWENTY-ONE
  24. TWENTY-TWO
  25. PART TWO
  26. TWENTY-THREE
  27. TWENTY-FOUR
  28. TWENTY-FIVE
  29. TWENTY-SIX
  30. TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. TWENTY-NINE
  33. THIRTY
  34. THIRTY-ONE
  35. THIRTY-TWO
  36. THIRTY-THREE
  37. THIRTY-FOUR
  38. THIRTY-FIVE
  39. THIRTY-SIX
  40. THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. THIRTY-NINE
  43. FORTY
  44. FORTY-ONE
  45. FORTY-TWO
  46. FORTY-THREE
  47. FORTY-FOUR
  48. FORTY-FIVE
  49. FORTY-SIX
  50. FORTY-SEVEN
  51. FORTY-EIGHT
  52. FORTY-NINE
  53. FIFTY
  54. FIFTY-ONE
  55. FIFTY-TWO
  56. FIFTY-THREE
  57. FIFTY-FOUR
  58. FIFTY-FIVE
  59. FIFTY-SIX
  60. FIFTY-SEVEN
  61. FIFTY-EIGHT
  62. FIFTY-NINE
  63. SIXTY
  64. SIXTY-ONE
  65. SIXTY-TWO
  66. SIXTY-THREE
  67. SIXTY-FOUR
  68. SIXTY-FIVE
  69. SIXTY-SIX
  70. SIXTY-SEVEN
  71. SIXTY-EIGHT
  72. SIXTY-NINE
  73. SEVENTY
  74. SEVENTY-ONE
  75. SEVENTY-TWO
  76. SEVENTY-THREE
  77. SEVENTY-FOUR
  78. SEVENTY-FIVE
  79. SEVENTY-SIX
  80. SEVENTY-SEVEN
  81. SEVENTY-EIGHT
  82. SEVENTY-NINE
  83. EIGHTY
  84. EIGHTY-ONE
  85. EIGHTY-TWO
  86. EIGHTY-THREE
  87. EIGHTY-FOUR
  88. EIGHTY-FIVE
  89. EIGHTY-SIX
  90. EIGHTY-SEVEN
  91. EIGHTY-EIGHT
  92. EIGHTY-NINE
  93. NINETY
  94. NINETY-ONE
  95. NINETY-TWO
  96. NINETY-THREE
  97. NINETY-FOUR
  98. NINETY-FIVE
  99. NINETY-SIX
  100. NINETY-SEVEN
  101. NINETY-EIGHT
  102. NINETY-NINE
  103. GLOSSARY
  104. Acknowledgments
  105. Continue reading
  106. Part One
  107. ONE
  108. TWO
  109. THREE

In the tro-tro, Emma reflected on last night. Yes, she had to admit she had enjoyed herself more than she had in a long while. As for Courage, well, she wasn’t too sure about him yet. Much too early to say. She would wait and see, but she wasn’t in a hurry for anything serious, and as for sex—well, he could forget about that altogether.

Anyway, today was a new day, and Emma didn’t want to dwell much on the events of the evening. Right now, she was eager to get to the Autism Center to try out the new Samsung tablets Mrs. Akrofi had donated. When Emma arrived, Grace, another volunteer, was outside supervising four children.

“Morning, Emma,” she said. “Kojo is inside with Auntie Rose.”

Emma found Rose feeding the boy breakfast, a slow and laborious process, since Kojo didn’t like eating and had limited food preferences.

Rose was glad to see Emma. “How are you, dear?”

“I’m good, thank you, Auntie,” she said. “Would you like me to take over?”

“Yes, please,” she said with relief. “I’m going to church, now.”

“No problem,” Emma said, sitting down next to Kojo, who had begun rocking. “Kojo. Less back and forth, okay?”

Twenty arduous minutes later, Kojo had cleaned his cereal and fruit plates. “Good job,” Emma said. “Let’s wipe our mouths. You remember?”

Kojo flapped his hands multiple times.

“Here you are,” Emma said, handing him a napkin. The boy wiped his mouth, but barely.

“Okay,” Emma said, laughing. “Good enough.”

She unlocked the cabinet with the tablets while Kojo stood in the middle of the floor repetitively rubbing the thumb of his right hand against his fingers.

All the tablets were enclosed in solid, thick protective jackets and a screen protector. The kids were instant wreckers of anything delicate—especially expensive electronic devices.

“Come, big man,” Emma said. “Here, sit next to me.”

She placed all the tablets on the table in front of her and Kojo let out a few short, piercing shrieks.

“Stay cool,” Emma said. “Okay, let’s explore.”

Three of the tablets were the same, but the fourth was different in that it had a stylus pen for drawing on the screen. She doubted Kojo would take much to that, since he’d hardly ever been drawn to paper and pencil, but it might be worth the try.