The Mother too had been getting tense, though whether on account of the coming meeting with Mr Capaldi or because of the Father’s imminent arrival, I couldn’t be certain. She’d left the Main Lounge some time before, and I could hear her voice from the next room on the phone. I could have listened to her words by putting my head to the wall, and I even considered doing so, given the possibility she was talking to Mr Capaldi. But I thought this might make Josie even more anxious, and in any case, it occurred to me the Mother was more likely to be speaking to the Father to give street directions.

Once I’d understood Josie was depending on me to look out for the Father’s taxi, I put aside plans to learn further the Friend’s Apartment and concentrated on the view from the triple window. I didn’t mind this, particularly since there was always the chance the Cootings Machine would go by, and even if I couldn’t very well chase after it, such a sighting would be an important step forward.

But by then I’d come to accept that the chances of the Cootings Machine passing the Friend’s Apartment were slight. Earlier, during our drive into the city, I’d become overly hopeful because, while still on the outskirts, we’d passed numerous overhaul men, and even when the men weren’t to be seen, their barriers were there closing off one street or another. That was when I’d begun to think the Cootings Machine would appear at any moment. But though I kept looking from my side window, and though twice we passed other kinds of machines, it never appeared. Then the traffic became slower and there were fewer overhaul men. The Mother and Miss Helen, in the front, were talking to one another in their usual relaxed way, while beside me in the back, Josie and Rick pointed things out to each other in soft voices. Sometimes one would nudge the other as we passed something, and they’d laugh together, even though no words had been exchanged. We passed a pink blossoming park, then a building with a sign that said ‘No Standing Except Trucks’, and in the front Miss Helen and the Mother were also laughing, though both had caution in their voices. ‘Just be strict with him, Chrissie,’ Miss Helen said. Next came Chinese signs, and bicycles chained to posts, then it began to rain – though the Sun kept trying his best – and umbrella couples appeared and tourists with magazines over their heads, and I saw an AF hurrying for shelter beside his teenager. ‘Rick, that’s ridiculous,’ Josie said about something and giggled. The rain stopped as we came into a street with buildings so tall the sidewalks on both sides were in shadow, and there were undershirt men sitting on their front steps talking and watching us go by. ‘Really, Chrissie, please drop us off anywhere,’ Miss Helen was saying. ‘We’ve already taken you much too far out of your way.’ I saw two gray buildings side by side that weren’t the same height, and someone had made a cartoon painting on the wall of the taller building where it stood above its neighbor, perhaps to make their discrepancy less awkward. My mind filled with happiness each time I saw a Tow-Away Zone sign though these were slightly different to the ones outside our store. Josie leaned forward and made a humorous remark and both adults laughed. ‘We’ll see you both tomorrow then at the sushi place,’ the Mother said to Miss Helen. ‘It’s right next to the theater. You can’t miss it.’ And Miss Helen said, ‘Thank you, Chrissie, I know it’ll help me greatly. It will help Rick too.’ We drove through a fountain square, then a park filled with leaves where I spotted two more AFs, then into a busy street with high buildings.

‘He’s late,’ Josie said from the sofa, and I heard the dull thump of her paperback falling onto the rug. ‘But I guess that’s not unusual.’

I realized she was trying to make a joke of it, so laughed and said: ‘But I’m sure he’s very anxious to see Josie again. You must remember how slowly the traffic moved when we were coming here. The same is probably happening to him now.’

‘Dad never gets places on time. And after Mom promised to pay for his taxi. Okay. I’m going to forget everything about him for a while. Definitely doesn’t deserve fussing over.’

As she reached down for her fallen paperback, I turned again to the triple window. The view of the street from the Friend’s Apartment was quite different to the one from the store. Taxis were rare, but other kinds of cars – in every size, shape and color – went by quickly, coming to a stop at the far left of my view, where a long-arm traffic signal hung over the street. There were fewer runners and tourists here, but more headset walkers – and more pedal cyclists, some carrying items in one hand while steering with the other. Once, not long after Josie’s remark about the Father’s lateness, a cyclist went by holding under his arm a large board shaped like a flattened bird, and I feared the wind would catch the board and make him lose balance. But he was skillful and darted around the cars till he was at the front, right under the hanging traffic signal.

The Mother’s voice in the next room had grown anxious, and I knew Josie could hear it, but when I glanced around, she appeared still to be engrossed in her paperback. A dog lead woman went past, then a station wagon with ‘Gio’s Coffee Shop Deli’ on its side. Then a taxi slowed down directly outside. The Main Lounge was higher than the sidewalk, so I couldn’t see into the interior of the taxi, but the Mother’s voice stopped, and I was certain this was the Father arriving.

‘Josie, here he is.’

At first she went on reading. Then she took a deep breath, sat up and let the book fall to the rug again. ‘Bet you think he’s a dork,’ she said. ‘Some people think he’s a dork. But actually he’s super-smart. You have to give him a chance.’

I saw a tall but stooping figure in a gray raincoat emerge from the taxi holding a paper bag. He looked uncertainly up at our townhouse, and I supposed that he was confused as to which one it was, those on our side being as similar as those on the other. He kept holding the paper bag carefully, the way people carry a small dog too tired to walk. He chose the correct steps, and might even have seen me, though I’d moved back into the room once I’d given Josie my warning. I thought the Mother would now come back into the Main Lounge, and her footsteps sounded, but she remained out in the hall. For what seemed a long time, Josie and I – and the Mother in the hall – waited in silence. Then the bell rang and we heard again the Mother’s footsteps, then their voices.

They were speaking to one another softly. The door between the hall and the Main Lounge was partly open, and Josie and I – both standing in the center of the room – watched carefully for signs. Then the Father came in, no longer in his raincoat, but still holding his paper bag in both hands. He had on a fairly high-rank office jacket, but under it a tired brown sweater that came up to his chin.

‘Hey, Josie! My favorite wild animal!’

He clearly wished to greet Josie with an embrace, and looked around for somewhere to put down the paper bag, but Josie stepped forward and placed her arms around him, paper bag and all. As he received her embrace, his gaze wandered around the room and fell on me. Then he looked away and closed his eyes, letting his cheek rest against the top of her head. They stayed like that for a time, keeping very still, not even rocking slowly the way the Mother and Josie did sometimes during their morning farewells.