The Chance (Thunder Point #4)(52)

It was probably the sight of Justin’s shaggy haircut that caused Eric to run a hand around the back of his neck. He’d just gotten himself a nice trim and suddenly he knew quite a few things. Justin wasn’t getting a haircut in a barber shop, he wasn’t in school, he was shopping for food for the family. Was he the man of the house, with his father gone and his mother unemployed?

Eric followed him a little, pretending to look at certain items, glancing out of his peripheral vision to see where the kid was headed. It didn’t take him long before he was checking out. He used some kind of credit card. This didn’t take a brilliant investigator—the cashier didn’t smile, Justin looked down, the total was reached, Justin bagged his own groceries and took back the card and the receipt. It had to be a voucher for food, the new form of food stamps. But what was he doing way over here? There was a grocery store in Thunder Point.

Justin left the store and Eric finally got around to getting the rest of the items on his list. He was back at the garage just after lunch. It wasn’t unusual for Al to be there already, though he was early. During the morning and early afternoon Eric could leave the station in Manny’s capable hands with either Norm or Howie or both to help him, while the afternoon and evening were his with Al, sometimes Justin and one of the old boys.

Eric put his vegetables in the refrigerator they kept in the garage. He went to talk to Al.

“So, what can you tell me about Justin?”

“Kid’s doing great,” Al said. “He’s keeping up with his regular work, learning new things, writing up invoices and even helping with ordering parts. He’s a whiz on the computer. He likes it, his mood is civilized, he’s good with customers. He’s happy twenty-five percent of the time, which for a seventeen-year-old boy is very positive.” Al grinned. “He has a lot of family responsibility—two younger brothers and a mother who isn’t well too much of the time. I noticed that’s typical around here.... Not sick mothers, but kids with a lot of family responsibility—they help on family fishing boats, they help farm or deliver produce, they take on part-time jobs to help out, to pay for extras, like their own underwear. It’s like where I grew up in Boone. We thought it was normal.” And Al smiled his friendly smile.

“You have any idea what’s wrong with his mother?”

“No idea,” Al said. “Sounds like she’s got some kind of chronic thing—Justin said she has regular bouts and the doctor looks after her, but she needs the kids to help with chores. With all he’s got on his plate, he’s holding up real fine.”

“My part-time job was my undoing,” Eric said. “It went too well. I dropped out of school because I thought I was making the big bucks. Justin wasn’t in school today. I saw him in a grocery store over in Bandon. I don’t like the idea he’s skipping school. That could lead to him skipping too much school...”

“Want me to talk to him?” Al asked.

“Nah, let me. He likes you better—keep it that way. Stay on his good side. Let me be the bad guy, see if I can figure out what’s going on with him. Then you can pick him up, dust him off, talk sense to him.” He took a breath. “Al, it’s not good for him to quit learning so early....”

“He’s learning,” Al said with a frown. “He’s growing in this job. He’s got good instincts, good hands.”

“I’d like him to have better odds than I did.”

“You landed on top, man,” Al said. “Twice!”

“I was lucky. If you don’t have luck along with determination, it can get bleak.”

When Justin came in, Eric tried to talk to him, but it was a waste of time, except to make Justin pretty mad. “My mom’s doing great, but she needs our help. She’s in a wheelchair and if you know anything about people in a wheelchair, they’re pretty easy targets for falls, for things like pneumonia, that kind of thing. And she takes medicine, so someone needs to be close by in case she needs help with something. She can’t be cooking and shit like that. She can’t drive anymore. So, that enough information or does my job require copies of medical records?”

“I just want to know if there’s any way I can help,” Eric said in frustration.

“Yeah. Gimme hours. She doesn’t work, doesn’t get support from my dad, and we’re stretched pretty tight. If you’re not gonna give me hours, stay outta my personal life. Do I ask you about your personal life?”

Eric shrugged. “Sometimes,” he said. “And it doesn’t really piss me off as much as this pisses you off.”

“Tell you what,” Justin said. “If I need anything, I’ll let you know. For right now all I need is hours. I’ll take whatever hours you can give me. After three in the afternoon, at least after two, and all day and all night Saturday and Sunday. That’s what I need.”

“You skipped school today,” Eric said. “I saw you at a grocery store near Bandon.”

“That’s right, dude. I had to take my mother to the doctor. I stopped to get a couple of things. She was still in the car, waiting.” But when he said that, he flushed. “We get along fine. Leave it alone.”

And so Eric said to Al, “I can’t crack that one. He’s all yours.”

* * *

Later that same day when Eric had gone home, Justin said to Al, “Any chance you can tell me how to replace break shoes?”