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“Well, we were playing the game on that day as well,” I said, dreading to get closer to the moment when my brother disappeared. “We hadn’t played in a while and Charlie sort of begged me to do it for old times’ sake, so to speak.”

If only I’d said no.

“He told me that he’d found a place to hide and that I wasn’t going to find him this time,” I said. “I knew all the possible hiding spots in the house, of course, but that was our ritual. He would boast of a new place, and I would find him within minutes.”

I suddenly got thirsty and finished my glass. Judging by numb gums, my magic powder was still working, and I needed more alcohol to reduce the unexpected anxiety. Jared followed suit without saying anything and gave the bartender a sign for another round.

“So off he ran to hide. I decided to give him a few extra minutes and went to get a cold drink,” I said, wishing the new round would come sooner.

“We could take a break,” Jared suggested, looking at me.

“I’m all right. I’ve worked through all this with my therapist and drank through it many times over.”

The new round came with a fresh bowl of walnuts. Jared started to work on those nuts, and I joined the cracking action as well. We ate the nuts in silence like two buddies who didn’t need to fill pauses with unnecessary chat. After I’d finished a couple, I felt I was ready to continue.

“Well, when I went upstairs looking for him, I couldn’t find him in all the usual spots. And just when I thought that, perhaps, he had finally found a new one, I saw him from the window running through the garden. I figured he’d changed his mind and didn’t want to play anymore, so I went to my room.”

“You saw him running away?”

“Well, I was on the third floor and was considering checking the attic, which Charlie was a bit afraid of, when I saw him running fast towards the main gates. I screamed, ‘That’s not fair!’ or something to that effect, thinking it was odd for him to break our rule about hiding only in the house.”

Jared stopped eating the nuts and gazed at me.