Babunya looked at him, smiled.
She’d seen him too.
Looking toward the corner, she said some words in Russian, then nodded to him. He repeated them in English, just as she’d coached him: “Owner of the House, please come with us and protect us.”
The little man appeared again, flickering into an existence that was still only barely visible. He nodded politely, started walking toward them… then faded into nothingness.
Adam looked over at his grandmother. “Is that it?”
“He with us,” she said. She put an arm around his shoulder. “He protect you in new home. Do not worry.”
Adam said nothing, and the two of them walked silently back through the house, outside.
He with us.
He would have laughed at that before, would have thought it was stupid, but now it cheered him up, made him feel better.
He protect you.
They walked out to the car, got inside.
On their way back, they stopped at a grocery store, bought some food for tonight’s dinner, and she bought him a Spiderman comic book that he read to himself on the silent trip home to Montebello, where Teo and his mother were waiting.