You too
NOTE TO READER
PAPA KEPT HIS nose buried in the paper over breakfast, but he agreed to take me to the library when I asked. In the car, it felt like we had gone back to the beginning of my visit, when everything was awkward. It made me sad, but I didn’t know what to say, so I just sat there and was silent.
PHONE TRANSCRIPT
Claudia Dalton’s Cell Phone | Wednesday, July 15, 2015, 4:15 p.m.
Mom: Hi, sweetie!
Claudia: Hi, Mom.
Mom: I’ll be home on Friday.
Claudia: I know. Papa and I are planning to come pick you up from the airport.
Mom: Good. Can’t wait to see you. I’ve missed you, honey.
Claudia: Me too. How’s your trip been?
Mom: Good. Work stuff went well. And I’ve had a lot of time to think.
Claudia: About what?
Mom: Just about the future. We can talk when I get home.
Claudia: No, we can talk now. I’m not busy. Just reading this book.
Mom: Claudia, I’m not sure it’s appropriate to—
Claudia: Not appropriate? What were you thinking about?!
Mom: [SILENCE]
Claudia: Tell me!
Mom: When we get home, I think I need to call a lawyer.
Claudia: Mom!
Mom: I’m not going to do anything yet. But I was talking to this woman I met at the conference whose husband left her—not disappeared, but . . . The point is, we need to know how to protect ourselves. Figure out what to do if he doesn’t—
Claudia: He’ll come back!
Mom: I hope so. You deserve better than—
Claudia: Don’t say anything bad about Dad!
Mom: Sorry. I didn’t want to tell you like this. But I’ve gone from worried to seriously pissed off. Why is he doing this? Why hasn’t he gotten in touch?
Claudia: We’ve heard from him!
Mom: Claudia, a puzzle piece and a song on your playlist is not “hearing from your father.”
Claudia: We just have to find the time capsule.
Mom: And then what?
Claudia: I don’t know. Maybe we’ll understand.
Mom: Understand what? Why he left?
Claudia: I don’t know. But I’m not leaving until we find it.
Mom: Then you’d better do it fast. Because I’m coming back Friday and then we’re going home.
VOICE MEMO
From: Claudia Dalton <claudiadalton195@gmail.com>
Date: Wednesday, July 15, 2015 5:27 PM EST
To: Jeffery Dalton <jeffdalton327@gmail.com>
Subject: Clue—Urgent!!
Dear Dad,
I need another clue. Please. Fast. Mom is coming home on Friday and she’s . . . upset. I read the book, but I’m sorry, I can’t figure it out. And I just have to find this time capsule before I go! I need you to come home.
Love, Claudia
PHONE TRANSCRIPT
Claudia Dalton’s Cell Phone | Thursday, July 16, 2015, 2:47 a.m.
Luis: [MUMBLES] Hello?
Claudia: Luis?
Luis: What time is it?
Claudia: 2:47 a.m.
Luis: In the morning?
Claudia: Yeah. I woke you. I shouldn’t have called. I’m sorry I—
Luis: No, no, it’s okay. You all right?
Claudia: No.
Luis: What’s wrong?
Claudia: I don’t know.
Luis: Your dad?
Claudia: No, it’s my mom. She’s going to call a lawyer when she gets home.
Luis: Oh.
Claudia: I mean, it’s not like I’m exactly surprised, but . . . he’s such a good dad.
Luis: [SILENCE]
Claudia: What if he’s just saying good-bye? A real long, drawn-out good-bye. What if we find the time capsule and he still doesn’t come home?
Luis: [SILENCE]
Claudia: Say something!
Luis: I don’t know what to say.
Claudia: [CRYING]
Luis: Even if he doesn’t come back, you’ll know a little more about him.
Claudia: What do you mean?
Luis: I mean, you’ve watched all those videos. And we’ve gone all these places. Places he went as a kid. We’ve done the same things.
Claudia: Yeah. Sometimes I could almost imagine he was there with us. That he had ducked out of sight for minute. To get some water or go to the bathroom.
Luis: And isn’t that a little bit like finding him?
Claudia: I guess it is. Can I ask you something?
Luis: Sure.
Claudia: What . . . what was the hardest part? When your parents split up?
Luis: [SILENCE]
Claudia: Was it having two houses, or bringing your homework from place to place, or . . .
Luis: [SILENCE]
Claudia: You don’t have to answer.
Luis: No, I’m just thinking.
Claudia: Okay.
Luis: I think it was accepting that there was nothing I could do about it. I could work as hard as I wanted at school, and do all my chores without being asked at home, and it still wouldn’t make a difference.
Claudia: Oh. So what did you do?
Luis: I had started watching all those documentaries, so I decided to take a film class. I found that I loved it. When you’re editing a film, you look at all the clips, all the pieces, and then you have to figure out why and how they fit together.
Luis: Yeah, it is like that. Filming makes me feel like I have a little more control over my life.
Claudia: I want that too. Can I watch your movie?
Luis: I haven’t finished it yet.
Claudia: Well, let me know when you do. I’d love to see it.
Luis: Really?
Claudia: Of course!
Luis: My mom thinks it’s a big waste of time.
Claudia: Well, I don’t.
Luis: Thank you, Claudia.
Claudia: No. Thank you. I’ve never called someone in the middle of the night before. Not even Kate.
Luis: Well, I’m glad you called me. Can you sleep now?
Claudia: I think so.
Luis: Good night, Claudia.
Claudia: Sweet dreams, Luis.
NOTE TO READER
I COULDN’T SLEEP. BUT I felt better. And as I lay in my father’s old lumpy bed, I thought about Luis’s documentary class and how he was trying to understand all the random bits of everyday life around him. Maybe I could do the same. I liked films. But I liked words even more.
And that was when I came up with the idea for this binder.
EMAIL
From: Jeffery Dalton <jeffdalton327@gmail.com>
Date: Thursday, July 16, 2015 3:13 AM EST
To: Claudia Dalton <claudiadalton195@gmail.com>
Subject: Last Clue
Potomac Mini Golf at Hains Point
Ohio Dr SW
Washington, DC
NOTE TO READER
I WAS SO EXCITED when I woke up and checked my email. Dad had responded! And the subject line of his email said this was the last clue.
Papa almost spit out his coffee when I showed him the message. I called Luis, and the three of us left for Hains Point right after breakfast.
MINI GOLF SCORECARD
East Potomac Mini Golf Park
Hole
Par
Player 1
Player 2
Player 3
Player 4
Player 5
Claudia
Luis
Papa
1
2
3
4
2
2
3
3
2
3
3
2
2
4
3
4
2
4
1
2
5
3
2
3
2
6
3
1
2
3
7
1
3
2
4
8
2
3
5
9
3
2
2
3
22
23
25
26
NOTE TO READER
WE PLAYED A whole round of mini golf, but we didn’t find anything! Luckily, the old lady working at the counter when we turned in our clubs overheard Luis and me talking about “the Awakening” and chimed in that the statue had been moved to National Harbor in 2008.
So we jumped back in the car and started to drive.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
EXT. NATIONAL HARBOR MARINA—DAY
There’s a small man-made beach on the edge of the river. The Awakening is a huge metal statue rising up out of the sand. There are five pieces to the statue: a gigantic arm reaching up toward the sky, a massive bearded face with its mouth open, an enormous bent knee, the palm of a giant hand with fingernails as big as dinner plates, and an immense foot with a little toe the size of a man’s head.
LUIS (O.S.)
Oh my gosh, it’s huge.
Claudia sits down on a bench and pulls off her shoes and socks. Papa glances over at her, then does the same.
LUIS (O.S.)
Go on! I’ll film you climbing on it.
Claudia runs off toward the statue. A moment later, Papa follows her out onto the sand.
PAPA
Hot! Hot!
Claudia jumps up to touch the elbow of the arm. Papa walks beneath the bended knee. They both high-five the huge palm and smile at each other.
CLAUDIA
Are we okay?
PAPA
Of course we are.
He gives her a big hug.
EXT. NATIONAL HARBOR MARINA—LATER
Papa is filming now. Claudia and Luis climb onto the giant’s face and sit on his cheeks, dangling their feet in between his open teeth.
CLAUDIA
You know what this reminds me of?
LUIS
What?
CLAUDIA
Gulliver’s Travels.
LUIS
Never read it. But I saw the movie.
CLAUDIA
You know, the scene where Gulliver wakes up on the beach and he’s surrounded by the Lilliputians?
LUIS
Yeah.
CLAUDIA
It’s kind of like that.
LUIS
Yeah. Only we’re the Lilliputians.
CLAUDIA
Exactly.
LUIS
Cool.
They think for a moment.
LUIS
“Pieces of the Awakening.” Is there . . . a giant puzzle on the list?
Claudia pulls out the list from her pocket and scans it quickly.
CLAUIDA
There are a bunch. “Jack and the Beanstalk.” “David and Goliath.” “The Titans.”
LUIS
Oh.
CLAUDIA
But you know what? There’s only one called “Gulliver’s Travels.”
EMAIL
From: Claudia Dalton <claudiadalton195@gmail.com>
Date: Thursday, July 16, 2015 4:30 PM EST
To: Jeffery Dalton <jeffdalton327@gmail.com>
Subject: Gulliver’s Travels
Dear Dad,
We found “The Awakening”! And the puzzle of Gulliver’s Travels. And the VHS tape labeled “Hains Point.”
This is it, right? You’d tell me if it was wrong. Because Mom’s coming home tomorrow.
Remember the summer you read that book to me? The other fathers were all at work, but since you’re a teacher, you were there. I remember feeling so lucky.
Come. Home. Now.
Love, Claudia
EMAIL
From: Jenny Dalton <jennydalton431@gmail.com>
Date: Thursday, July 16, 2015 4:32 PM EST
To: Claudia Dalton <claudiadalton195@gmail.com>
Subject: Flight info
Claudia,
My flight info is attached to this message. See you soon!
Love, Mom
MOM’S FLIGHT INFO
Depart Friday, July 17, 2015
Geneva, Switzerland (GVA)—Lisbon, Portugal (LIS)
6:30 AM—8:00 AM
Change planes
Lisbon, Portugal (LIS)—Boston, MA (BOS)
10:45 AM—1:20 PM
Boston, MA (BOS)—Washington, DC (DCA)
3:55 PM—5:32 PM
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
INT. PAPA’S KITCHEN—NIGHT
Luis and Claudia are hard at work on the “Gulliver’s Travels” puzzle. Papa comes into the room and picks up the box.
PAPA
Only three hundred pieces? You two should be done in no time.
CLAUDIA
I hope so. Mom’s coming home tomorrow.
PAPA
How can I help?
CLAUDIA
Pizza?
PAPA
I’m on it.
He picks up the phone.
* * *
—————
INT. PAPA’S KITCHEN—LATER
The pizza box on the counter is empty except for a few discarded crusts, but the puzzle is almost done.
CLAUDIA
There’s only two pieces left.
LUIS
Let me get a close-up.
He goes to the tripod and zooms in. One piece is the white one with “Pieces of the Awakening” on the back. The other is white and blue and silver.
Claudia looks at the puzzle. There is a hole in a white cloud in the sky over Gulliver. She picks up the white piece and presses it into place. Then she turns over the white and blue and silver piece.
“Uptown” is handwritten in pencil. And beneath that is a large letter X.
LUIS (CONT’D)
What?
PAPA
“Uptown”?
CLAUDIA
He said this was the last clue.
PAPA
That’s not even a clue. Uptown is just a location.
CLAUDIA
He said this was the last clue!
PAPA
It’s okay. We’ll—
CLAUDIA
No, it’s not okay. Mom is coming home tomorrow. She’s going to make me go home. We don’t have any more time!
LUIS
Wait! Let me see.
Claudia hands him the piece, but instead of looking at the words, he turns it over to look at the picture. He breaks into a huge smile.
LUIS (CONT’D)
I know what it is.
CLAUDIA
What?
LUIS
It’s the missing piece of R2-D2! From the first puzzle.
CLAUDIA
Of course!
* * *
—————
INT. PAPA’S KITCHEN—LATER
They have the first Star Wars puzzle back on the island now. It’s almost done. Claudia puts the last blue and white and silver piece into place.
Luis and Papa sit there looking at her.
PAPA
Are there any other pieces?
CLAUDIA
No.
LUIS
I don’t understand. It just led back to the beginning.
They all look at each other. No one can figure out what to say.
LUIS (CONT’D)
What do we do?
CLAUDIA
I don’t know.
PUZZLE
NOTE TO READER
WHEN I SNAPPED the final piece into R2-D2, I’m not sure what I expected to happen. A trapdoor to open? A secret audio message to start playing? A map of the time capsule’s location to suddenly appear? But I’ll tell you what did happen.