I followed his gaze. My aunt's foot wasstillthere, preventing the door from closing. If nothing else, I had to give her points for persistence.
Suddenly, my aunt hollered out, "Melody! Iknowyou're in there!"
In front of her, Jake made a scoffing sound. "Dude, I'm not Melody."
Through gritted teeth, my aunt said, "I'm not a dude, and Iknowyou're not Melody."
"Then why'd you call me that?"
"I didn't!"
"Yes, you did."
Her foot was still there. And then, it disappeared, pulled out of sight. A moment later, a familiar, muddy black pump flew through the partially open doorway, and splatted against the far wall before thudding to the floor in a messy clump.
I couldn’t help it. I snickered.
Next to me, Joel said, "See?"
The sound of a car pulling into the driveway made all of us pause. Soon, I heard Officer Nelson's voice coming from just outside the front door, "We got a call about a stolen car?"
Aunt Vivian snapped, "Well, it sure took you long enough!"
I still couldn’t see Officer Nelson, but I could hear him just fine. He told my aunt, "Sorry, I was on break."
She gave a derisive snort. "How nice for you."
"By the way," he said, "I found your car."
My aunt paused. "Really? Where?"
"A mile down the road. That way."
"But that's not where we parked."
"If you say so."
In a tight voice, she said, "Iknowso."
For the first time, I heard my uncle's voice. "Iknow so, too."
My aunt snapped, "Well goodie for you!"
Officer Nelson asked, "You want a ride?"
My aunt gave a loud sniff. "Well, we're certainly not going towalkthere, are we?"
From inside the door, Jake said, "Hey, Officer."
"What?" Officer Nelson asked.
"You should probably hose 'em off first."
Aunt Vivian gasped. "What?"
Jake gave a loose shrug. "I'm just sayin'."
"Well, don't!" my aunt said. "I've had enough of hoses, thank you very much."
