The Chaplain's Daughter by K.T. Hastings

low voice to Amos while continuing to sweep.
     
    “Whatchu got in mind.  I don’ want no trouble.”  Toby realized that he had fallen into the slang and lingo of the inner city.  It made sense since that is where he knew Amos.
     
    Amos realized that he didn’t have Toby’s undivided attention.  “When are you done here?”
     
    “Midnight, 12:30, maybe later.”
     
    “You gotta phone?”
     
    Toby figured that it would be best to get Amos away from his workplace as soon as he could.  “Yeah.  Call me at 360-425-5645,” he said, giving Amos the Boylan’s land line number. What with rent, restitution, bus passes and the like Toby didn’t have a cell phone, and didn’t know when he would be able to get one.
     
    “Gotcha’.  I’ll call you tomorrow.  When are you up?”
     
    Toby shook his head.  “Don’t call me until after noon, man.  I gotta ride my bike home and it’s about ten thousand miles.”
     
    Amos left and Toby didn’t think about him again until the next day.  Just before noon Toby was awakened from a sound sleep by someone banging on his bedroom door and yelling his name.
     
    “TOBY!  PHONE!!!”
     
    It was Alyssa, none too pleased with having to be an answering service for her parent’s delinquent house guest.  “TOBY!  PHONE CALL!”
     
    “Okay, okay.  I’ll be there in a minute.”
     
    Half expecting Alyssa to keep hounding him Toby rubbed his eyes and waited for her to say more.  “It would be just like her” he thought.
     
    But Alyssa was already away from the door and on with her day.  She and Toby hadn’t exchanged a dozen words since he had moved in.
     
    Toby got dressed and went into the kitchen where the nearest phone extension hung on the wall.
     
    “H’lo?”
     
    “Tobe, it’s me man.  Can you talk?”
     
    Toby glanced around the corner and didn’t see anyone.  “Sure, I guess.”
     
    “Listen.  Some of us were talkin’ about you.  We don’t want to see you wearin’ dirty aprons and sweepin’ whitey’s parkin’ lot.  Do you work tonight?”
     
    “No.”
     
    “Me and some others will pick you up at 11:00.  We got a plan.”
     
    He knew that he should just hang up on Amos, because Amos’ idea was surely going to be trouble, but Toby didn’t hang up.  The idea of having some ready cash appealed to him.  Toby was still tired from his long shift at work and exhausting ride home.   His legs ached all the time and, while John and DeeDee were great to him they were all he had.  His friends lived in downtown Tacoma, and all Toby saw every day was them and Alyssa, known to Toby as “their snooty-assed daughter,”
     
    “Okay Amos, 11:00.  You don’t know where I live, though.” Toby said.  He quickly gave John and DeeDee’s address to Amos, who hung up without another word.  Toby went back to bed.
     
    What he didn’t realize was that Alyssa had come into the kitchen from behind him, and had heard the end of the phone call.  She hadn’t recognized the voice on the phone when she had answered it, but thought that Toby’s plan to hook up with “Amos” at 11:00 at night was something to note.
     
    Toby slept until 2:00.  When he finally walked into the Boylan’s living room he saw that snow had fallen on the driveway.  DeeDee had asked him to help around the house so he went into the garage to get a sidewalk broom.  He was clearing a path from the driveway to the front door when Alyssa came out on to the porch.  She was carrying two steaming mugs.
     
    “Hey, you want some hot chocolate?”
     
    Toby looked up in surprise.  Alyssa had been anything but welcoming in the days that he had been a guest in her home.  Truth told he was a little suspicious of her offer even now.  The steam rising from the brown ceramic mugs, in concert with the cold air against his face was more than he could resist.
     
    “Sure,” Toby said.  He put the sidewalk broom over his shoulder military style and moved toward the