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“Hey, why are you crying? Are you lost?”
Little six year old Jeremy looks up at the stranger with tearful eyes. The stranger looming over him is a tall, thin man, dressed in a very fancy suit and wearing a funny looking mask. He reminds Jeremy of the robbers in those cop movies that his brothers stay up late to watch.
“Not lost,” Jeremy mutters. “My brothers won’t let me play with them.”
The strange man frowns. He leans down to Jeremy’s level. Jeremy sniffles and takes a small step back. The strange man’s face is intimidating up-close.
“That’s not very nice of them,” The strange man remarks. Jeremy shakes his head in agreement.
He’s since stopped crying, confused about this strange and (even more strangely, somewhat-familiar) man. Didn’t Ma tell him not to talk to strangers? She told that to Connor and Anthony too, but they talk to tall strangers all the time. And sometimes share cigarettes with them.
The strange man reaches into a pocket in the front of his suit. In movies, suit pockets contain roses. In real life, they contain lollipops! The strange man presents him a red lollipop and smiles.
“I can’t make your brothers nice, but hopefully this helps you feel better?”
Jeremy reaches out and grabs the candy. He holds it close to his chest. At least he wasn’t offered a cigarette. Those smell bad.
“Who are you?” Jeremy finally has the courage to ask.
The strange man makes a weird face at him. It’s the kind of look that tells Jeremy there’s something the strange man doesn’t want to tell him. He’s seen that expression on his Ma's face before, too.
“I can’t tell you,” he says. “I’m undercover.”
“Like a cop?” Jeremy questions.
The strange man seems to find that funny. “Yes, I suppose so.”
Jeremy takes a moment to think. He’s tempted to open the lollipop, when a thought suddenly strikes him.
“You aren’t testing me, are you?”
“What?” The strange man asks.
“Ma likes to ask her friends to test us, and if we take candy from them she scolds us.”
The strange man laughs. He shakes his head.
“No, no, no… I just don’t like seeing sad faces. You shouldn’t have to feel sad, you’re not a grown-up yet.”
“Why would grown-ups be sad? You get to do whatever you want!”
The man smiles knowingly and shakes his head again.
“Sometimes you’re forced to do things you don’t want to do.”
“Like work?” Jeremy asks.
“Like work,” the man agrees.
A church bell chimes in the distance. The man glances over his shoulder, at the horizon. The sky is turning pink. That means it’s getting late; Ma will come get them if they don’t head back soon.
“I have to go. You should go find your brothers.” The man stands up.
“Wait!” Jeremy shouts. “Don’t leave!”
The nice man smiles down at him sadly. “If it were up to me, I would stay. But I can’t, I’m sorry.”
Jeremy pouts. “Will you come back when you’re done being undercover?”
The nice man looks away. “Maybe. If I do, I can tell you what it was like, if you can keep secrets.”
“I can! I keep secrets for my brothers all the time! Why won’t you tell me now?”
Jeremy can’t see the nice man’s face anymore, but he hears him laugh.
“I can’t, I’m sorry. Goodbye, Jeremy.”
Before Jeremy can protest, the nice man turns around and walks off. He tries to call out, but is grabbed roughly by the shoulder and spun around.
“Hey, we gotta get back before dark. C’mon, Jer.”
“But—”
“—C’mon! I’ll race you.”
“No fair!” Jeremy shouts as Charlie sprints off. He forgets about the stranger and chases after his brother.