Peter had invited Lilah to dinner that night. They had a reservation at a good restaurant. She was just about ready to go when he arrived at 6:30, but he wanted to make a phone call. She half-attended as she fed her dog, and she heard the monotonous tones of him recording a message for Saul. He was shaking his head at the end.

“What’s the matter?” Lilah asked while she clipped the kibble bag shut. “Saul not where he should be?”

Peter mumbled something. He sidled past her to hang up the phone. “No,” he said aloud. “And I’m a little irritated. Last time this happened we agreed that he’d call.”

“Last time what happened?”

“He didn’t come home.”

“Are you telling me Saul didn’t come home last night?”

“Yes.”

“Well…when was the last time you saw him?”

“Saturday afternoon.”

“Peter. It’s Monday night now. Saturday was two days ago!” Lilah began to feel exasperated.

As usual Peter responded with what seemed like increased calmness. “I know that. I believe he was seen today. I know he’s okay.”

“Well I’ll call the restaurant.”

“Why?”

“To tell them we’re not coming. It’s nice to let them know, or they may try to hold our table.” If her words had been feet they would have stamped.

“I don’t see any reason not to have dinner. What do you want to do instead?”

“We could search for Saul…”

“I told you he was seen today. He was in Danville. Who knows where he is now.”

“I can’t believe how calm you are, Peter. I’d be beside myself.”

“I was pretty shook up the last time it happened. He didn’t come home from the movie and then didn’t even call until Wednesday night. It turned out he was helping a runaway friend.” Lilah had to ask a question or two before Peter continued.

“Saul met Zeke at the theater, and started helping him with props. Valerie is Zeke’s girlfriend. They’re both 15, from Danville, and have dropped out of school. Zeke is dyslexic and has ADD. Valerie’s parents decided that Zeke was a bad influence on her; they tried to keep Valerie in school and away from Zeke. So Valerie ran away. Her parents called the cops. Zeke and Saul were helping Valerie evade the authorities. That’s why Saul disappeared.”

“So this is the second time Saul has not come home from that movie?”

“Well, no. Actually, there was one other time, but he was only gone till Sunday.” Peter then told Lilah the story that involved Judith. “Come to think of it,” he concluded, “I think Valerie was running then, too.”

“Could it be happening a third time?”

“I suppose yes. But Saul should call me. I took him to LA for the Portals teen program, and we got a lot straight after that. I’m really disappointed that he hasn’t called. But let’s get going or we will lose that table.”

Peter heard from Saul two nights later. He chose to believe the story that there were no telephones available before then. He was comforted to hear that there’d be no more disappearing because Valerie no longer had to run. Her parents had declared her “incorrigible.” They wouldn’t be looking for her any more. Peter consented when Saul asked him to let Valerie and Zeke move in with them. He sponsored their handfasting ceremony. He also recruited Zeke’s 32 year-old mother and 48 year-old grandmother into Portals. He began working on teen tuition for Zeke and Valerie as well.

He thought things were settling satisfactorily. He and Zeke and Valerie and Saul lived together pretty well, or would if he could ever figure out a way to get the kids to clean up after themselves, or take a phone message, or watch over Warren, or stop arguing. As it was, they paid more attention to their video games than to the clutter around them, and they seemed to want to be outside smoking cigarettes when they weren’t playing video games. Although Saul had already had enough sex for his first case of crabs and enough drugs to have stories about breakfast acid before his rare school days, Lilah was more shocked about the tobacco than anything else. The image of Saul with a lit filterless cigarette between his small fingers would hang forever on her memory walls. Peter disregarded her comments about it. Meanwhile Zeke and Valerie thought Peter was cool, especially once he started buying eggs and mayonnaise and white bread in quantity; they lived on fried egg sandwiches. They didn’t even mind paying rent after Peter gave Zeke some jobs to do and some wages, although Zeke’s disabilities got in the way of his working as much as they had disrupted his schooling, so the labor-and-rent schemes didn’t last long.

Peter went deeper into Portals. He enrolled in the Partner Program, a two-year session about teamwork, and he had to put in weekly time at workshops. Saul said he had gotten enough out of the teen program that he didn’t need to continue with Portals; he wouldn’t agree to take another seminar with his father. That was a big disappointment for Peter, but then it was convenient to have Zeke and Valerie around, as company for Saul when Peter was away. It became less convenient a little later, after Valerie began to suspect Saul’s trustworthiness. She fed him a false secret and he passed it on. So she was vindicated but Saul was infuriated. His level of affectation rose. He began to wear mascara and assert that he was immortal. He tried to mesmerize Lilah’s dog and other domesticated animals. He claimed he no longer experienced cold, not since he’d first slept under a bridge some months before.

Meanwhile, Lilah was wondering if she should call in Social Services or something. She watched as Peter surrounded himself with disabled teenagers. He wasn’t even trying to get Saul to go to school. She talked to him about liability. She urged him to communicate with Valerie’s parents. She even gave him the directory of special schools from Sunset magazine. Finally she referred him to the best psychologist she and Sam had ever met. That almost worked. Peter liked Mary. At first Saul liked her; he saw her for two sessions and then he just stopped.