My job now is very simple. My job is to fit in. My job is to not think about Daddy in jail. I am to be Katie Griffin. Katie Griffin is nice and friendly and popular and doesn’t feel scared if she wakes up in the middle of the night. Everybody likes Katie Griffin and wants to get to know her. It’s okay that she doesn’t know how to surf because she moved from Ohio, which is in the middle of the country and has no ocean around it. It’s okay that she asks if there are sharks in the water. It’s okay that she doesn’t have a dad because Morgan doesn’t have a dad either. This is all normal.

I asked Mom if she can call me by my other name, the name from New Jersey, sometimes, just when we’re alone. She got a scary look in her eyes and she said, no, never, don’t you ever ask that again, Katie. Don’t you ever even say that name out loud again. You have to promise me. Right now, Katie, you have to promise me.

So I can’t say it, because I promised her. I can’t tell anyone, because I have to keep us safe. I can’t ever tell who my father is or what he did. I can’t talk about the Witness Protection Program. But I can write my name here. Katie Giordano. Katie Giordano. Katie Giordano.

Alexa slammed the notebook shut and shoved it back where she found it. Her hands were trembling. Something was going on here, and she didn’t know what.

“Katie!” she called.

There was no answer.

“Katie!” Still nothing. Alexa flew down the stairs and rounded the corner to the living room. Katie’s chair was empty. “Katie!”

“Sup?” said Katie. She was coming out of the kitchen, elbow deep in a box of Cheez-Its. “I’m right here.” She held the box out to Alexa. “You want some?”

Alexa Thornhill, did this evening’s babysitting gig meet your expectations? On a scale of one to ten, how would you rate your experience?

35.

The Squad