We’re at Amanda and Dan’s house now. They have a little baby. Mommy is on the phone outside in the driveway and Amanda is outside with her. We can hear Mommy talking from in the kitchen. Their house is kinda like ours. No wall between the kitchen and the living room. Daddo says people like open spaces in our neighborhood. Their hallway to the front door is shorter than ours. And they don’t have a dining room. Mommy one time said all houses are the same, but I don’t think she meant the layout. Dan is reading a magazine at the kitchen table, but he’s not really reading. He ke eps asking me questions, like if I’m okay. He ke eps looking to the front door. And he shakes his head at what he overhears Mommy saying. Then he looks at me again. Like I might tell him it’s all phony. But I don’t. Late night, Dan says. He’s nice. So is Amanda. But I can tell he’s not happy about this. About us being over. The baby is in a little carriage in the kitchen. I called your dad, he says. He’ll be here soon. Dan has said that a couple times. That Daddo is on his way. That he was going to stop home first. I don’t want him to stop home first. Can you tell him not to go home? I ask. Dan looks at me like I’m a baby. That’s because he only has a baby. Not a little kid. He just needs to grab some things, Dan says. Then he says loud, Ursula? I think Bela is about to cry. I’m not about to cry but then I feel like I might. I think of Daddo going into our house. I think of Daddo seeing Other Mommy on the bed. Her face big and crazy. I’m not about to cry, I say. But maybe I already am. Dan is a nice man. Daddo says being nice is also being smart. Bela? It’s Mommy. Back inside. She’s next to me. She’s hugging me. She’s so worried. I’ve never seen her like this before. Amanda is here, too, now and Dan and her look at each other like this is all crazy. Like this is all bad and they want nothing to do with it.
We’re just gonna spend the night here, Mommy says. We’ll figure out what comes next tomorrow. She can’t stop moving. She paces their kitchen. Her eyes moving all over the room. She saw Other Mommy tonight. She sure did. Where’s Daddo? I ask, even though Dan just told me. He’s almost here, Mommy says. Amanda is staring at me like I’m bad. Bad for her and her baby. How big was she? Amanda asks Mommy, and Mommy says loudly: It wasn’t a woman. I look to Mommy and then look away fast because I don’t want to know what she means. How close is Russ? Dan asks. Mommy and Daddo say Amanda and Dan are so nice, but they don’t seem so nice right now. They seem upset that we’re at their house. It’s pretty late, Dan says. You guys can use the extra bedroom. Extra bedroom, Amanda says. There’s not even a bed in there. It’s more like an extra closet. Mommy looks at me and I look at her and she doesn’t look away and I know she’s thinking of emptying the closet in my bedroom and it almost feels like she let Other Mommy out. We’re gonna stay awake for a while, Mommy says. Ursula, Dan says. What you’re describing... He looks at me and I blink but don’t look away. I wanna tell Mommy we should leave. We’re scaring them and they don’t know we’re scaring them and so they’re just mad. Did you hear that? Mommy asks. Amanda and Dan look up to the ceiling and they look sick. Mommy says, No, in the driveway. I think I heard a car. He’s here, Dan says. Mommy goes to the front door and st eps outside and I’m alone with Amanda and Dan and I imagine Other Mommy sitting on the edge of their bed, telling them what they don’t know about each other. Thank God he’s here, Amanda says. Mommy and Daddo come down the hall and Mommy says, ... Wasn’t a woman. Daddo looks at me and tries to smile like he usually does, but his face isn’t working and I run to him and we hug in the hall. He smells like the outside world. Hey, Bela. You’re okay. You’re okay. It’s going to be okay. Truly. It is. We’re staying here tonight, Mommy tells Daddo. I think about our house at home. I think about Other Mommy sitting in there alone without us. Daddo looks at Mommy to make sure she means it. Then he breathes out heavy and says,
I get it. Yeah. I was just there. I don’t like this. I searched the place, he says. Maybe not in front of Bela? Dan asks. Daddo looks at him like he hadn’t thought of that. Come on, Daddo says to Mommy. They walk up the hall. I can still hear them though. Even when Dan tries to talk over them. Are you hungry, Bela? Dan asks me. There was nothing there, Daddo says to Mommy. Nothing like what you described on the phone. No, I tell Dan. It was horrible, Mommy says to Daddo. The worst thing... How about some juice? Dan asks me. No, I say. Mommy sounds like she’s going to cry again and then I remember Mommy wasn’t actually crying. What did Other Mommy say when she was pretending to be Mommy? Was she telling the truth? We’ll figure this out, Daddo says. Then: What you described... Ursula... A movie then, Amanda says. I’ll put on a movie. I don’t want to think about it, Mommy says. Please. What movie do you want to see, Bela? Amanda asks me. Tangled? It was using my voice, Mommy says. I heard my voice. She was! I say loudly. But at the same exact time Amanda turns on the TV, and Mommy and Daddo don’t hear me. I can’t hear them now either. Just certain words: Voice... Taller... Hands... Hair... I think I’m going... Amanda and Dan are blocking my view of Mommy and Daddo. They lead me to the couch. But I don’t wanna watch Tangled. I wanna listen to Mommy and Daddo. Sometimes it’s okay to give it a minute, Dan says. Like we’re talking about a game. Or like someone just got a little angry is all. Yes, Amanda says. It’s okay to process things. She looks to their baby and Dan smiles but it’s more like he wants this night to end. This movie, Amanda says, is one of Disney’s best. She turns it on and Dan sits on the couch and Amanda walks up the hall to Mommy and Daddo and I hear it when Amanda says, What would anyone want with Bela?
I don’t like this question. Who said anybody wants anything with me? What I saw is impossible, Mommy says. Her voice is shaking. But then the movie starts and I can’t listen anymore. Dan gets up and gets the magazine from the kitchen and comes back to sit on the couch with me. I get up and run to the hall. Mommy. Daddo. Maybe we shouldn’t stay here. They all look at me, worried about me saying this. Amanda has her hand to her mouth how people do when they’re sad or surprised that they’re sad. Dan is behind me now. Sorry, guys, Dan says. It’s okay, Daddo says. Bela, come here. Maybe we all need to talk about this. Mommy looks up the hall like she’s scared of what she might see. Daddo gets on his knees in front of me. Bela, is there someone, an adult, at school who has hurt you or said he or she might hurt you? Anything like that? Mommy hides her face in her hands. No, I say. No teacher or janitor or recess aide or a coach or anything? No. Not even another parent? Someone else’s mom or dad? No. Amanda sucks in her breath. I see Mommy is still shaking. Okay, Daddo says. Then who is she? I don’t know. Well, when was the first time you saw her? This is important. Mommy’s shaking like it’s cold. When’s the first time? Daddo says again. I think about it. I don’t remember. But maybe I do. But if I tell them, they might get mad at me for not telling before. Bela, this is important, Daddo says. I start crying. I don’t like this. I don’t like this house and I don’t like how Amanda and Dan are looking at me and I don’t like how scared Mommy and Daddo are.
I wanna go home, I say. No way, Mommy says. No way. Settle down, Urs, Daddo says. Everybody just... take a de ep breath. Daddo stands up and looks at Dan and says, What am I supposed to do here? Dan looks stunned. I have no idea, he says. You need to go to the police, Amanda says. Mommy looks like she already said no to this. But like she might say yes now. I don’t know, she says. They’ll ask for a description. I don’t think I can... there’s nothing to— Okay, Daddo says. Okay. I’ll call them. All right, Ursula? I’m gonna call them. Let them know someone was in our house. Daddo leaves the hall and Dan and Amanda follow him. Mommy looks at me. She takes a while before she asks, That thing... was in your closet, Bela? Yeah. Always? No. Sometimes in the walls. Sometimes in my bathroom too. And you saw it at the park? Yeah. Yeah. Okay. Then: It’s following you then. My God, it’s following you. She looks up the hall again and now Daddo’s voice sounds too far away and what Mommy said scared me and I don’t want to be standing in the open anymore and I grab Mommy’s hand and I run into the kitchen where Daddo is on his phone and I say, Daddo! Don’t go back home alone anymore! He shushes me and tells the person he’s talking to our address and I know Daddo is going to meet them there and I don’t want him going back there alone. Do you have an alarm system? Mommy asks Amanda and Dan. Yeah, Dan says. A good one too. Put it on. What? Put it on. Dan looks to their sle eping baby, breathes heavy, and says, I’ve been planning to do that the second I know we’re all here to stay for the night. You three have us scared out of our minds.