The Kid On The Bike - 13. Chapter 13

“I can’t see why we don’t just believe him,” Elena told the group, as she’d told Owen an hour before.

“Just because he seems open with you,” her boss had replied – and repeated now – “doesn’t mean there aren’t still things he’s hiding.”

“I know that – like these two students’ names – possibly his friends.” Elena knew that Owen wasn’t simply being stubborn. He was protecting them all by being careful. “But from what Maureen says, there aren’t any more drugs going around the high school than usual – at least, there don’t seem to be. And – fortunately – that’s never been a lot, and they’re usually low end.”

“Then why did you get that first phone call?” Owen persisted. “And why are Maureen and the school board concerned?”

To Elena, it seemed to be a two-way conversation between her and Owen, with the others listening in. She looked to Ike for support.

He shrugged. “I don’t know,” he ventured. “Even if it’s true about the drugs– and we have no numbers to back that up – what could it hurt to keep asking questions? To try and find these kids?”

“How?” Rob protested. “We could barely ask anything before – because we were so busy protecting the school and the board. And now we have to protect Henry Chang, too?”

“It could it be a different Asian boy,” Don suggested.

“I doubt it,” Elena lobbed, and Rob overlapped, “No – I’ve checked all the possibilities.”

“Every one? From every other school?” Owen pushed. To Elena, it seemed he was again being thorough.

“There’s no one like that hanging around Waldron,” Rob insisted. “No Asian boy. No one selling drugs. No one.”

“Maybe we need to widen the idea of Asian,” Jae offered. “Were you only looking at Chinese, Japanese, and Korean last names?”

“And first names,” Rob explained. “And parents’ names, first and last. And anything else we could think of.”

“Some Russians can be considered Asian,” Jae went on. “And definitely people from the Philippines and Southeast Asia...”

“We checked everything that came close,” Rob assured her. “And there weren’t that many students.”

“Besides,” Elena picked up, “when we got the description from the security guard, it was kind of general. And I don’t think it’s just around here, but people think of Asian mainly as Chinese and Japanese. Then they tack on the others.”

Jae admitted that and added, smiling, “Yeah, people never know what I am. To me, I look so typically Japanese. But even if you know anything about family names, the problem is ‘Ryu’ could be Japanese, or Chinese, or Korean.”

“No matter,” Rob said, grinning back, “we’d have it covered.”

Elena refocused. “Going back to one person – specifically Henry Chang – who we agree is Chinese...”

“The problem with Henry Chang,” Owen cut in, “separate from his being identifiably Asian, is he could be all the good things you promise – and absolutely, entirely sincere. And he could still be selling drugs. And all we need is one way to prove to the school board he isn’t.”

“Why would he?” Elena prodded.

“Any reason,” Ike shot. “Especially from an administrator’s point of view – they’re just trying to keep their lawyers happy. So is there one reason he’s not telling us? One we could quickly eliminate to show it’s not him? Maybe he just likes having extra money.”

“He doesn’t need money,” Elena reassured them.

“Maybe he likes earning it himself,” Rob put in.

“Or the danger,” Don added. “After all, he is a teenager.”

“Or he thinks he’s doing favors for his friends,” Jae offered.

Since no one could deny any of those, nobody tried. But with all the limits on them, no one knew where to go.

“What if we simply relax for a while?” Elena suggested. “What if we tell Henry Chang not to call his parents – not yet – because we won’t be calling them.” She turned to Owen. “I can say we’re not ready to, if you’re more comfortable with that – if it would back off the school board.”

“That would be easier on the kid,” Don pointed out. “Otherwise, we leaving him out there, hanging.”

“It’s kind of torture,” Jae agreed.

“But it might flush him out,” Owen objected. “Sometimes people don’t have enough patience – and they do things impulsively when they’d be safer staying still.”

“Henry Chang’s all about control,” Elena reminded them. “He said so last night, and I’ve told you.”

“I’ll give you that,” Owen admitted. “He’s a remarkable young man – especially for one who wants to be so ordinary.”

And after that, everyone was quiet. Like Elena, they seemed to be thinking. Then she realized it wasn’t that – they were waiting for Owen to decide. Finally, he laughed.

“OK – give the kid some cover,” he allowed. “Let him go back to being a kid.” He quickly added, “But at the same time, keep watching. Don’t let him know, but keep checking in. From what you’ve said,” he was talking to Elena now, “he’s bright enough to know what we’re doing...”

“He’s bright,” Elena confirmed. “In practical ways above his age. He’s made decisions most fifteen-year-olds aren’t allowed.”

“But he has this buffer of money,” Owen cautioned. “It’s not like he’s homeless.”

“Money doesn’t seem to have twisted him,” Elena returned. The rest of the group deferred to her, since she knew Henry Chang best.

“So there we are,” Owen began to finish. He turned to Elena. “You can tell him we’re backing off. That should let him relax. Meanwhile, we all keep watching – quietly. Each of us only needs to see him once a week – and we’re already seeing him two or three times at Theo’s. So maybe two of us can start eating at the pizza place – but one at a time, spacing out the days. Ordering a slice – or a hero – or something to eat on break. Never talking with him or even trying. Just making sure there aren’t people he’s talking to that he shouldn’t be. That should be easy, since he’s normally so private.”

“Maybe we could ask the security guards at the high school to do the same thing,” Don suggested. “That way we wouldn’t have to put Ike’s daughter undercover.”

That brought a laugh, and then everyone started to clear away their lunches. “Are you all comfortable with this?” Owen quickly went on. Elena knew he liked to have agreement, if only to cover himself. When he got it, he smiled and headed to his office.

As Elena was rinsing out her coffee mug before heading back to her desk, Don paused by her. “There’s one more thing,” he offered slowly. “Something you haven’t mentioned, and I’m not sure how – or even if – it fits in.” He hesitated, and then confided. “I’ve been watching Henry Chang at Theo’s – when he’s just moving around, casually doing his work. And from the way he watches – and more specifically who he watches – I think the kid might be gay.”