“I’ll see Danny room now,” I said, abruptly standing up. Kayla got up as well, dashing her eyes with her arm. I followed her down a hallway until we reached the very last door.
“Here it is,” she said, opening the door. I blinked in amazement at what I saw. There was a big-screen television as well as a DVD player and a CD player, more expensive than the ones I had. Every toy known to kidkind seemed to be on the floor while there were very few books on the bookshelf. Not even two rows were filled, which was sad to me as I was an avid reader. A three-foot long stuffed pig sat in the corner of the room. “That’s Reggie,” Kayla said, pointing at the gigantic pig which looked as if it was about to jump up and play. “That’s Beans,” she added, pointing to another pig which was slightly smaller but just as spry. “And that’s Corkscrew.” Another pig. Unlike the other two, this pig was brown with a white stomach. “Danny liked—likes pigs.” That was obvious as there were roughly fifty pigs in the room—made of all kinds of material—including clay, porcelain. and plastic. I recalled the pig I saw Danny holding while in captivity, and it made sense seeing his room. I also noted that Kayla had used the past tense when talking about Danny—not a good sign.
“I need a few minutes alone,” I said, not glancing at Kayla. I was too busy scanning the room to pay her any attention.
“Ok,” Kayla said meekly, stepping out of the room. Immediately, the air around me expanded so I could breathe freely again. I looked at the pigs, wondering how a boy of two came about a pig-obsession. Perhaps he saw Babe one too many times; it certainly wasn’t because Kayla read Charlotte’s Web to him. The walls were a light green which gave a cozy feeling to the room. There was a crib—what the hell was Kayla thinking leaving her boy outside alone? He’s hardly more than a baby—certainly too young to be alone even for a few minutes. A scene flashed before my eyes, but it went by too quickly for me to grab it. I vaguely recalled Kayla looking at her watch, but that was it. Wait, what was she looking at her watch for? It happened while she was outside with Danny, right before she went back in. Chances were, she was just checking to see how long it’d been since her last fix. Even junkies had rules, as fucked up as those rules might be.