For the thousandth time, Joe turned over in his head what he should do about Mary. Go or stay. Stay or go. If I do this, then...if I don't then...His life was on rails. It had momentum. It seemed impossible that anything could derail it. And yet --. Suddenly he was jolted out of his reverie. It took a moment to realize it was an incessant hammering on the door. He went and opened it. Polly stood there.
"I rang," she said. "Nobody answered."
"Dad's at work and Mom is out shopping," Joe said. "Sorry -- I didn't hear."
"I don't know what I'm doing here," Polly said. "Something made me come." Joe said nothing. "It's Mary," Polly said. "Something's wrong. -- Besides the obvious, I mean. Something else. Something dark. I don't know. I just feel it." Joe still said nothing. "Like I said -- I don't know what I'm doing here -- why I should care. Why you should care. I just know she needs help. If we don't, who?"
"How?" Joe finally muttered. "I don't even know where she went."
"I asked some questions at the bus station," Polly said. "She was headed west. I think Dallas."
"Dallas is a big place," Joe said.
"Like I said; why should you care?" Polly turned and left Joe standing there with a large hollow space where his stomach should have been.
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