The Inmate (81)

I’m having a lot of trouble reading the expression on Tim’s face. But the syllable he utters makes my heart drop. “No,” he says.

“Please, Tim.” I hate to beg, but I’ll do it if I have to. For my son. “Just once or twice even. I know you care about him.”

Tim shakes his head. “No,” he says. “That’s not what I meant. I meant, no, I… I don’t hate you.”

What?

“I mean…” His eyebrows scrunch together slightly like he’s surprised by this revelation as well. “I’m mad at you. I’m really mad. I thought after everything we went through together, you trusted me more than that. But… Christ, Brooke. I’ve known you since we were in diapers. You were my best friend for my entire life. You were the first girl that I ever… well, you know. And that night at the farmhouse when I told Shane he better treat you right, I meant it. Because you deserve the best.” His Adam’s apple bobs. “So, no. I don’t hate you. I could never…”

He doesn’t hate me. Tim Reese doesn’t hate me. I almost cry with happiness.

“Josh keeps talking about this drawstring for the light bulb in the closet that came apart,” I say. “He wants to fix it with you. If you’re free…”

Tim is quiet for a long time. Finally, he nods. “I’ll come by this weekend. Take a look.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

I offer a tiny smile. “I’ll see you then.”

As he closes the door on me, I catch it. It was so quick, if I had looked away for a second, I would have missed it. But it was unmistakable—the corner of his lips quirking up in a smile on his own.

He doesn’t hate me. That is a good start. Friendships have been built on less.





Epilogue


THREE MONTHS LATER



JOSH



Today was a really good day, because I had a math test at school and I got a perfect score. I got every single question right. I even got the bonus question right, and I was the only kid in the class who did!

Tim was really proud of me. He and Mom were really mad at each other for a while, but now he’s started coming over again, and he helped me study for my math test. And then after I went to bed last night, he and Mom stayed in the kitchen talking. Also, when I got up to use the bathroom at six in the morning, he was coming out of my mom’s bedroom in his bare feet. He held up his finger to his lips to let me know I shouldn’t mention to Mom that I saw him.

Tim is nice. I like him and I’m glad he’s been hanging around the house more again. I know he’s not my real dad, but I would be okay if my mom wanted to marry him or something. Anyway, whoever my real dad is, it seems like he doesn’t really want to meet me.

Also, I’m glad Tim is around more because I don’t like the new babysitter Mom got for me. I liked Margie. She was really nice, and she cooked better than anyone else, even my mom. And she would always let me help and give me the funnest jobs. Margie used to say things to me like, “You’re my favorite person in the whole world. Do you know that?”

But then Mom said Margie did some bad things and she couldn’t come over anymore. I saw Margie on TV right after she stopped coming over. But they were calling her a different name. Pamela Nelson. And then Mom caught me watching and shut the TV off.

Anyway, it’s nice having Tim around again. He makes my mom really happy. And he’s smart too. Like, when he says stuff, I always listen.

For example, a long time ago, at the beginning of the school year when I first moved here, Tim and I were sitting together on the couch and Mom had gone out somewhere. And he said to me, “There’s something really important I need to tell you, Josh.”

“What?” I said. I put on a serious face so that he could tell I was old enough to hear something important.

“You need to know,” Tim said, “there’s a man named Shane Nelson who might contact you someday and want to hurt your mom. This man, Shane Nelson—he’s a really bad man. Really bad. So if you ever see him or hear from him, you need to know that he’s dangerous.”

I nodded very seriously. I was glad Tim trusted me enough to tell me that. Even though I didn’t really expect to ever meet a man named Shane Nelson.

So you can imagine I was super surprised when mom brought home that houseguest named Shane Nelson. He seemed nice enough, but I kept thinking about what Tim told me. That Shane wanted to hurt my mom. Tim said it was really important.

And I trusted Tim.

So when Shane took me out into the woods to make that snowman, I noticed that all the trees had a lot of icicles. They looked really heavy and pointy. Shane was a lot bigger than me, so I figured if I wanted to protect my mom, this was my only chance.

I waited until Shane was standing under one of the branches. I reached up and shook the branches, and all the ice fell on him.

It was a lot of snow and ice. It was enough to make him fall down. I walked over to see if it had knocked him out, like in Little League last year when Jaden threw that ball at Oliver’s head (accidentally). But it didn’t knock Shane out. He was on the floor, rubbing his head, but he was still fine.

That’s when I saw the large icicle on the ground.

It was at least three inches thick. Maybe two feet long. It was about the same size as the bat in Little League, where I’m the best hitter on the whole team. So I picked it up with my gloved hands and I swung it—the way Tim showed me when we practiced in the fall. And I swung it again. And again. And again.