Sean looked at the phone that was still in his hand. It had gone dead, but not before he had heard Craig scream. He knew what was going on. It was his dad, he'd heard him in the background of the phone call. He'd heard the pounding sound of something, he'd heard him yelling at Craig to open the door.
"Are you okay, kid?" Tracker said, looking at him with his amused puzzled look. Sean glanced up at Tracker's blond goatee and leather jacket.
"Uh, no," Sean said. He had this sinking feeling in his stomach. It had sounded awful over there, it reminded him of the Cormiers. The Cormiers had lived near them in Wasaga beach and every night they drank and they fought and it sounded, the pounding and the yelling and the anger, it sounded just like the phone call that just went dead in his hand.
As Tracker gazed at him with his softly puzzled look Sean dialed the emergency number and told them he thought an ambulance might be needed at Craig's house.
"What's the address, sir?" the impassive voice asked him. Sean held his head, rubbed his temples as the headache started.
"I don't know. The guy's a doctor, that's all I know. Dr. Manning. Can't you look up the address?" Sean felt himself kind of drifting, the tones of unreality washing the color out of the world.
"Yes, sir. Thank you," the voice said, and then hung up.
"That bad, huh?" Tracker said, leaning forward in his seat. Sean glanced at him and nodded.
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On the back of Tracker's motorcycle, speeding toward Emma's house, he hoped it wasn't as bad as he thought. He hoped it wasn't as bad as it sounded. But when Craig screamed it sent shivers up his spine and that was not the sound of things being okay.
"Thanks, man," he said, pulling his helmet off and handing it to his brother.
"No problem," he said, and watched Sean walk toward Emma's front porch.
He stood on the old wood of the porch, bathed in the halogen yellow glow of the porch light. Emma always knew what to do. He sucked in his breath, aware that he and Emma weren't exactly speaking right now. But that didn't matter. There were more important things.
"Sean," she said, staring at him in surprise. He ducked his head and spilled out his story. Her face crumpled in concern.
"Oh. Oh my god. We have to go to Joey's house. We have to tell Joey," Emma said, stepping inside to get her jacket. Sean waited for her on the porch.
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Joey was doing flash cards with Angie and both Emma and Sean could tell that he didn't want to be bothered with tales of Craig.
"Joey, Sean heard Craig scream over the phone after his dad had been pounding something into walls and doors, yelling at him. It didn't sound good. He called an ambulance and maybe Craig's at the emergency room right now, and if they arrested his father he won't have anyone, you know, he won't have anyone there for him when he wakes up. You need to go. I think you should go," Emma said, and she was so breathtakingly sure of herself. Sean couldn't help staring at her. She was so confident. But that was what he needed.