About ten minutes after Bella had retreated to her room, the phone rang again. Stacy answered.
“Hello?”
A child’s voice, crying.
“Miss Bella? Oh, Miss Bella, you need to come. I need you.”
“Wait, wait, calm down,” Stacy soothed. “This is Stacy, Bella’s friend. Who is this?”
“Tommy,” responded the small voice, crying harder now. “She’s my tutor, and I’m in trouble, and I don’t know who else to turn to. She must come. Please. Please, can I talk to her?”
“Hold on just a second, sweetheart,” Stacy said gently.
She went to Bella’s room and knocked on the door. “Bel?”
“Yeah?” Bella said sleepily.
“A kid named Tommy’s on the phone for you. He’s crying, Bel. Says he needs you.”
Bella came fully awake, fumbling for the phone at her bedside.
“Thanks, Stace, I got it,” she spoke into the r
