To her surprise, Kreitenberg didn’t ask for an explanation. In fact, he answered with fatherly understanding that he’d be glad to help them. What shocked Skylar even more was that he refused to allow her to pay for the tickets. He told them he’d be right back, and then left them in the car, adding that there were granola bars in the glove box if either of them got hungry.
Eddie opened the compartment and devoured one of the bars. He cringed somewhat, but that didn’t stop him from eating the whole thing. “Two. Not good. Stale. Too crunchy. This granola hurts my teeth.”
“Didn’t seem to bother you too much,” she said, continuously scanning the area around them.
Eddie paused, staring at the empty wrapper in his hands. She was right. “Skylar, why do you keep looking around?”
“I’m wondering where Rupert is.”
As authoritatively as he could, he answered, “It depends how many people are in line, and how many tellers are open.” His imitation of her was getting better.
Skylar smiled until a shadow suddenly appeared outside her window. Panic set in. She quickly glanced around the car, wondering how to get her and Eddie safely out of the vehicle, until the shadow held two train tickets to Philadelphia up against the window. She sighed with relief as Rupert opened the door.
“Sorry if I startled you.”
“You came out a different exit.”
“I did.” He nodded, motioning to the empty police car. “I counted six officers and what looked to be the same number of agents, but they are harder to pick out. I saw at least one holding a phone with pictures on it, and I’m pretty sure they were yours.”
Eddie turned to Skylar. “Why would officers and agents have phones with our pictures on them?”
“Because they’re looking for us.”
“Are they playing tag, too?”
“Yes.”
Eddie asked, “How many people are playing tag with us?”
“More than I care to think about.” She glanced briefly at Rupert, who continued to surprise her. “Why aren’t you asking any questions?”
“If you were comfortable telling me what’s going on, you would have already done so.” She got out of the car, and he handed her the train tickets, along with two New York Mets caps and oversized T-shirts. “They’re looking for a doctor and her patient, not two baseball fans. The Mets are playing the Phillies tomorrow in Philadelphia. Now you two will fit right in.” He motioned to other fans making their way into the station. “Next train leaves at 10:22.”
She studied him, realizing her faith in New Yorkers had just been restored. “Did you really tell Eddie that you like birds more than people?”
He answered sincerely, “Not everyone is lucky enough to know someone like you.”
Skylar shook her head. “I’m not as nice as you think.”
Rupert smiled warmly. “All I need to know is the effect you have on him.” He gestured to Eddie as he got out to join them. “You know how special he is. What you don’t know is how special you are.”
From the moment Skylar and Eddie entered the crowded station, it was apparent that Kreitenberg was correct about the number of law-enforcement personnel looking for them. There seemed to be officers and agents around every corner, glancing at phones, which Skylar was certain displayed their images.
Skylar held her breath and kept her eyes on the ground as Eddie paused to cup his hands to his ears and rotate his head, familiarizing himself with the sounds of the gleaming station. The main concourse was over forty feet high and featured a thirty-foot-tall steel-and-glass cattail sculpture as its centerpiece. The sculpture was supposed to remind New Jersey Transit passengers that they were in the Meadowlands, where cattails were prevalent. At least, they had been before the open spaces were bulldozed and turned into a train station featuring statues of them.
The sculpture was ringed with neon, which emitted a slight but audible BUZZ. Eddie focused on it, along with every other noise echoing around the cavernous space. Footsteps, conversations, ringing devices, squeaking wheels, and never-ending arrival/departure announcements all bounced around the space’s surfaces of granite, limestone, steel, and glass. The collective white noise formed a continuous RUMBLE, which Skylar knew was going to be a challenge for Eddie.
This explained the tissue paper sticking out of his ears. Not much, thankfully, but it was there, for anyone who looked closely enough. Perhaps Skylar should have been less concerned with appearances, because Eddie’s hands started shaking. “I don’t like it here.”
“The faster we keep moving, the less time we have to spend here.”
“It’s too loud.”
“Breathe, Eddie.”
“I am breathing. Otherwise, I would be dead.”
“Focus on your breathing. Try to slow it down.”
“Why?”
“Because I’m asking you to.” She had learned to stop trying to explain things, much like parents do by their second or third child.
It only took Eddie a moment to act on the request. He began breathing slower. As the new rhythm became more automatic for him, Skylar watched as he turned his attention to the many passersby. He focused on one person at a time. Many of these people wore Mets garb, just like Skylar and Eddie. Kreitenberg was right. They were blending in, and that was good. They appeared to be nothing more than two small parts of the Mets collective moving toward a common destination. She gave people slight nods, or looks that compatriots give each other. They were united in common purpose. They were one.
It was working right until Eddie started to moo like a cow. He was focused on a heavyset woman walking by in well-worn cowboy boots. “Moo.”
Skylar considered them fortunate that the woman didn’t hear him. “Why are you mooing?”
“This space makes people sound like cattle.” He stared at a particularly large, unshaven man, who was drinking from a large bottle wrapped inside a paper bag. He was at least 6’4” and over three hundred pounds. “Moo.”
The man stopped abruptly and stared down at Eddie. “What the hell you say?”
“Moo.”
Skylar quickly jumped in. “Please excuse my friend. He has Tourette’s, and can’t control certain impulses.”
Eddie made his BUZZER sound. “I do not have Tourette’s. I have Asperger’s syndrome.”
Skylar got right in Eddie’s face and looked him directly in the eyes. “I’m your doctor. If I say you have Tourette’s, you have Tourette’s. Now let’s go.”
She would have dragged him away by the arm if she could, but knew that would only make things worse. So she did the only thing she could, and that was to walk away, desperately hoping that he would follow.
Thankfully, Eddie did follow her, repeating what the large man was saying behind him as he did. “Shoulda beat that punk-ass bitch to the ground. Don’t care if he’s no retard. Sumbitch needs to learn some respect.” Eddie’s tone and intonation were dead-on.
After turning a corner, confident that they were a safe distance away from the man-beast, Skylar paused, breathing a deep sigh of relief. She waited for Eddie to catch up to her. “You do not have Tourette’s.”
Eddie looked upset. “Then why did you say I do?”
“Because I felt like I had to.”
“Why?”
“Because I didn’t want him to hurt you.”
This got his attention. “You really think he was going to hurt me?”
She nodded. “I’m quite sure of it.”
Eddie glanced at various parts of his body, imagining a serious injury. “So it’s okay to lie if you don’t want someone to get hurt?”
She didn’t know what to say. “It’s okay if you don’t have any other alternatives.”
“How do you know if you don’t have any other alternatives?”
“You do your best to consider all other possibilities.”
Eddie nodded as if he understood, which he didn’t. It was all quite confusing, and left him feeling uncomfortable. “I want to go back to Harmony House.”
Skylar nodded. She knew this was hard for him, but she wasn’t about to give up yet. “I thought you wanted to hear your mother’s voice.”