But Papa didn’t fix her mama’s hand this time. Instead Mama called someone named Aunt Sam. Callie had never met her before, but her mama had talked about her all the time. When her mama brushed her hair at night, she would tell stories about how she and Aunt Sam became friends—best friends. Now, as Callie looked around the house, she realized just how very, very different it looked than before. All the furniture was new and funny-looking, nowhere near as lovely as the furniture she was used to. The pictures on the walls were different, too, and the kitchen was filled with odd gadgets and shiny objects that looked like nothing she had ever seen before. Callie was about to ask her mama where they were, how they had gotten to this strange place, when Mama grabbed something off of the kitchen counter and held it up to Callie. It didn’t look like too much to her, but Mama explained that her that it was called a “phone” and that if she pressed in just the right spot, it would connect her to Aunt Sam, who had one too.

Callie was skeptical at first about her mama’s phone, which was just a little smooth and shiny rectangle that she had to be very careful with, but then she realized she really liked it. A lot. Mama cried when she heard Aunt Sam’s voice; she was on the speaker, so Callie heard her too. At first, hearing Aunt Sam’s voice magically blare into the room scared her, but then she realized it was okay because her mama was so happy about it.

“Jesus, Ammy—are you okay? Where have you been? Amanda—” Aunt Sam started crying then too.

“Sam,” Mama choked out. “I need help.”

That night, Callie met a man called Mr. Finch, who, according to her aunt Sam, was the person who would take care of everything. But her mama told her that Mr. Finch was a bodyguard, someone who protected people. And since Papa wasn’t here to protect them, Mr. Finch would. Callie was okay with him either way because when he first came to the house, he knelt down right in front of her and smiled really big. He spoke softly and told her, “It’s going to be okay, Cal.” No one had ever called her Cal before, but she didn’t mind, she liked the way he said it. And there was something about Mr. Finch that made her feel safe.