The Legend of Kareem by Jim Heskett

come in late and thought he could pretend he’d been there the whole time.
    That night, he and my mom fought, in their whisper-yelling they thought I couldn’t hear. But I heard all of it. The next morning, he was gone. Didn’t say goodbye.
    And now he was dead, and I wasn’t sure how to feel about it.
    Naming me executor of his will must have meant something. Did it mean I was the only person in the world he still had, except for this Susan person? Why hadn’t he named her the executor, or his sister, my Aunt Judy?
    I didn’t have any explanation. I was a thousand miles away from my wife, away from home, where I should have been. I never should have left Grace so soon after what she’d had gone through.
    The task I’d come here to accomplish seemed to be hanging on by a thread. Omar and I weren’t exactly getting along well, we had no good way to get out from under IntelliCraft’s thumb, and I didn’t even know where to find Susan Palenti.
    After a few minutes of staring at the cover of the pool and letting a few tears collect on my cheeks, my eyes started to droop. I’d have to give the too-soft bed another try.
    I walked back up the concrete motel stairs to the second floor, then paused outside our room. Heard something.
    I slid my key into the lock and opened the door quietly, then found Omar on the floor, on his knees, silently praying on a mat. With his hands up next to his head, he was whispering to himself, then he leaned forward, his head on the floor. He hadn’t seen me or was too involved to pay attention.
    Who was this man traveling with me?
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FOURTEEN
     
     
    In the morning, Omar and I took a taxi east of town to be dropped off in the middle of nowhere. I called Grace and told her I’d had to change my flight because everything was taking longer than anticipated. She didn’t seem to have a problem with this, and said she was feeling better every day. A little more human, a little more normal. She’d been taking Dog for walks around the neighborhood, and he trotted along at her side, growling at any other dogs that came near her. I hadn’t expected the mutt to take to her so quickly.
    I promised myself I was going to tell her the whole story at some point, but I didn’t want her to worry now. Plus, I felt guilty for not being there to help her. I should have been the one growling at other dogs who approached my wife.
    The taxi left us near the little town of Adkins. I hadn’t wanted to leave the car behind, but anything we could do to throw off IntelliCraft seemed like the wise choice. But, as usual, I hadn’t seen anything suspicious while looking out the window of the cab en route.
    We sat in the dirt beside a stretch of highway, little else besides barns and fences and mounds of dirt in all directions. The air was thick, full of pollen. I sniffled a few times, trying to adjust to taking shorter breaths.
    Omar was plucking grass from a small patch by the road. He stuck two blades in his mouth like a cigarette, then puffed out his cheeks as he expelled the air. After a few seconds, I realized he was trying to get the blades to whistle.
    He tossed the blades of grass to the side and gave me a sheepish grin. “I have never been skilled at making that work.”
    “Yeah, me neither,” I said. “This guy who’s coming to get us, he’s your friend?”
    Omar wiped dusty hands on his shirt. “The woman coming to get us is. She has roommates, and as for the rest of them, I do not know them. But they will take us in, for now. I believe this is the best option.”
    Or, the only option. If I’d thought there was a better way, I would have suggested it. The things Omar had told me about these people didn’t set me at ease. But going to Three Rivers also put us closer to the Mexican border.
    A half an hour later, a beefy blue Dodge with red pinstripes and more than its fair share of body damage revved up beside us. Behind the wheel sat a woman with a