Jordan was quiet.
Then he asked:
"Did they think we were criminals?"
Marcus felt something tighten inside him.
"No."
"But they came because someone thought we were."
Marcus took a breath.
"Sometimes people get scared because they don't understand something."
Jordan looked at him.
"But they were looking at us."
Marcus nodded.
"I know."
"Did they think I was bad?"
"No."
"How do you know?"
Marcus smiled sadly.
"Because I know you."
Jordan leaned against him.
For a while, neither spoke.
Downstairs, Mia was asking Tasha why the police had come.
Tasha was trying to explain without giving her daughter a lesson in fear.
She finally said:
"Sometimes adults make mistakes."
Mia frowned.
"Like calling the police?"
"Sometimes."
"Was she wrong?"
Tasha hesitated.
"I think she made a decision before she knew the whole story."
Mia thought about that.
"That's not fair."
"No," Tasha said softly.
"It isn't."
Later that night, Marcus sat on the back porch alone.
The backyard looked completely different in the darkness.
The picnic table was still covered with plates.
The grill had gone cold.
One balloon had fallen onto the grass.
A few hours earlier, the space had been full of laughter.
Now it was silent.
Tasha came outside.
She sat beside him.
"How are you?"
Marcus gave a small laugh.
"I don't know."
She rested her hand on his.
"I keep thinking about Jordan."
"So do I."
"He asked if they thought he was a criminal."
Marcus closed his eyes.
That question hurt more than the police visit.
Because the police would leave.
The memory might stay.
The following Monday, Officer Daniel Brooks sat in his patrol car during his lunch break.
He couldn't stop thinking about Saturday.
He had responded to hundreds of calls.
Noise complaints.
Domestic disputes.
Arguments.
Thefts.
Burglary alarms.
People calling because they heard a strange sound.
But the Johnson case stayed with him.
Not because anything dramatic had happened.
Because nothing had.
He opened the report.
"Suspicious gathering."
That was the original wording.
Brooks stared at the phrase.
Then he remembered Marcus's face.
He remembered the little girl on the porch.