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Both kids shrugged. “No. He only started coming around a few weeks before Mom left,” Heath said.
That sounds about right for Vera.“Alright, well, anything else you can think of about Bo?”
Hannah wrinkled her nose. “He burps a lot, and he strings together the sounds to form words. He thinks it’s funny. But it’s not.”
Sounds like a real peach. Bo the burper from Boston.I had a lot to go on now.
We talked for a little while longer, but neither of them knew much of anything about Bo or the trip Vera had taken with him.
A few hours later, after the kids were in bed, I poured myself a much-needed glass of wine. Heath wandered back into the kitchen as I sipped and took the seat across from me.
“Did CPS come because I cut school?”
“Yeah, buddy, they did. I was going to talk to you about that tomorrow. You can’t cut school.”
“I did it to work at the pizza place. One of the day guys took off a few days, so I lied and said I didn’t have school and could help out. I wanted to pay you back for all the money you’ve spent since you got here—for food and stuff for me and Hannah.”
My heart squeezed. “Oh, Heath. You don’t have to do that. It’s not your job to support yourself and your sister.”
“It’s not yours either,” he said. “I guess I really screwed things up by not going, huh? Are they going to put us in foster care?”
“Not if I can help it. I promise to do everything in my power to keep that from happening, Heath.”
He nodded, but his face was glum. I reached out and covered his hand with mine. “You said you wanted to pay me back for things I bought for you and Hannah. Do you feel like it’s okay for you to pay for Hannah’s food?”
“Yeah, of course. She’s my sister. And she’s too young to have a job.”
I squeezed his hand. “I feel the same way about both of you.”
He looked me in the eyes, but said nothing.
“We’re a family,” I explained. “We take care of each other. Besides, I promise I’m not hurting for money. I do pretty well for myself. Okay?”
Heath nodded.
“So no more cutting school. Do you promise?”
“Yeah.”
I mussed his hair. “Go get some sleep, kiddo.”
Once it was quiet again, I couldn’t help but reflect back to my own childhood. I’d walk into our apartment each day not knowing what I would find. I’d squirrelled away canned food under my bed so there would be more to eat when Vera inevitably took off the next time. I’d felt like maybe if I was a better kid—smarter, prettier, more helpful around the house—she wouldn’t want to leave as much.
I hated that Heath and Hannah were going through the same turmoil. Tears streamed down my face as I thought through the emotions they likely dealt with on a daily basis: abandonment, resentment, fear, unworthiness, disdain. No child should ever be made to feel like they were a burden and unwanted.
It took me a solid ten minutes to get my emotions under control. When I finally did, I decided to wash down the pain with a second glass of wine, but when I got up to go to the fridge, there was a knock at the door.
I looked at the time on my phone.Nine forty-five.
God, I really hoped it wasn’t CPS again. What if they were coming to remove the kids? What would I do? Should I pretend to be sleeping and not hear it?
Taking a deep breath, I tiptoed to the door and looked through the peephole. I was relieved to find Owen and not Ms. Rollins again.
He held up a brown paper bag when I opened the door. “Key lime pie. I was at the restaurant we went to for lunch last week and thought you might like a piece.”
I forced a smile. “You didn’t have to do that.”
He winked. “I might’ve hoped you’d let me watch you eat it.”
