to do right now.” Her voice was gentle and firm.
        “When will we see him?”
        She smiled sadly. “Not right away. Maybe in a couple weeks.”
        “But he should be here,” Conner protested. “This is his house.”
        Sharon came in. “He lives in Reseda,” she said. “You can go to his house every other Saturday and Sunday.”
        He assessed her angrily. “That’s not true!”
        His mother told Sharon to go back to the other room.
        “Is that true?” he demanded.
        His mother’s eyes were red. She nodded silently.
        As he looked to her, trying to comprehend this, she scooped him up and held him tight. As they rocked quietly, tears rolled down his cheeks.
        “With Daddy gone, it’s going to be hard to take care of everything. I’m going to be depending on you to be good. Will you do that for me?”
        He couldn’t believe this was happening. He pressed his face against her shoulder and cried inconsolably.  
        “When I ask you to do something,” she said, “I’ll expect you to do what you’re told. Will you do that for me?”
        “Okay,” he snuffled. “But will Daddy be coming home again?”
        He felt her lurch. “I don’t know. Maybe in a while.”
        From then on, Conner and Sharon and Celia would see their father once every other weekend, but those visits were tense and uncomfortable. Their mother would have them scrubbed and ready at the appointed time, then when Donald’s car pulled into the driveway, they would scurry out to meet him and climb into his car. Donald would be happy to see his children and they would all laugh and hug joyfully. Then he’d take them somewhere, sometimes a park, once a drive to Simi Valley, another time to the La Brea Tar Pits. But as the day wore on, he’d always become aloof and gaze into the distance and not answer when they spoke to him. Celia was usually grumpy and cried a lot. Sharon would hold her and try to keep her occupied. When they’d get back to the house, Conner always felt unsettled by the visit but still didn’t want his father to leave.

#

        Despite his promise to his mother to be good and helpful, Conner found it difficult to be either. Though it seemed like his father was seldom home before, now that he was officially gone, he felt like half of his world was gone. He felt crazy, as if he was floating in outer space. He