Page 22 of The Haunting Plot

“Okay, let’s make a plan, then,” RJ says.

Walking over, I crouch in front of them. “First, we need a map of the house. Do you think you could draw one?”

Jonah nods, grabbing a notebook and some colored pencils. He plops back down in front of me as RJ shoots me an appreciative glance.

The amount of care and precision Jonah puts into his drawing is incredible, mapping out the furniture in each room from memory. It almost looks to scale.

“You’re really good at that.” I point to his map as he flips the page to start on the second floor. Once he finishes each level of the house, he looks at me as if waiting for my approval.

“I drew all the doors and windows, including anything that might be blocking the path. We need two exits in every room.”

“You also need a meeting place once you get outside. What about the big rock in front of the house?” I suggest.

Jonah blinks up at me. “The one that looks like a tombstone?”

“It does kinda look like that, doesn’t it?”

He continues, almost talking over me. “We need a new fire extinguisher. We should also check the fire alarms in this house. And we need to practice the escape plan, except we can’t because we need to crawl, and the floors downstairs hurt my knees.”

“I’m going to help with that.” Well, I will if his mom lets me.

“Do you do fire drills at the station?”

“We do. We practice all kinds of different safety drills,” I confirm.

“That’s good.”

“It sounds like you know a lot about fire safety,” I prod.

He nods.

“So if you know so much, you know how dangerous it was to start that fire.”

He sighs, picking at a loose thread on his sock. “I wanted Mommy to stop working. She’s always working. It was a little fire, and I thought I could stop it before it got too big.”

RJ and I exchange glances as he opens his mouth to speak, but I shake my head, silently letting him know that I’ve got this. “You’re a smart kid, Jonah. But what you did was dangerous. That fire could’ve escalated quickly, and while you know a lot about how to stay safe if there’s a fire, you don’t know enough about how to put one out⁠—”

“Can you teach me?” he interrupts.

I look over at RJ as I weigh my words. “We should talk to your mom about that.”

“I need to keep Mommy safe since I’m the man of the house.” Jonah’s words are matter-of-fact, but it cuts the same.

“That’s a good idea,” RJ says, nodding at me.

I’m out of my depth here. While I may suck with women, I’ve always prided myself on being a good dad. I’ve successfully navigated heavy topics with my kids, like the divorce, but I’ve never dealt with a grieving kid.

“It’s a lot of responsibility being the man of the house. How old are you?”

“Eight and a half.”

He’s so young to be dealing with this, but I know what he’s going through. “Your Uncle RJ and I grew up being the only men in our houses.”

Jonah’s head swivels between us. “So you know.”

“I do, but just in case, why don’t you tell me?” I ask.

“About all the stuff you have to do for girls.”