“Thanks, Lily. It was really nice to meet you. Thanks for coming.”
Marcus walked away and joined Caleb and Nick in the living room, and Lily realized then that the main reason Marcus had introduced himself in the first place was because he’d wanted to vet Lily for Nick. Because he was trying to protect him. Because that was what friends did.
And she foolishly wondered if Nick would ever open up to her.
9
Once, when Nick was a sophomore in high school, he sat in the back of his seventh-period geometry class, staring at the equations on his exam, wondering if he’d ever need to apply the circumference of a sphere to a real-life situation, when his name was called over the loudspeaker.
Nick stilled and looked up. With the exception of the few times he’d been caught reading in class, Nick rarely got into trouble. He kept his head down and did his schoolwork. He worked evening shifts at Jack in the Box, and then he went home. Why was he being called to the principal’s office?
His teacher Mr. Kelly, a lanky white man who suffered from a constant sinus infection, stared at Nick expectantly. “Well then, get up, Mr. Brown,” he said, sniffling.
Nick stood and grabbed his books, fumbling to shove them inside his backpack. He handed his unfinished exam to Mr. Kelly and headed for the main office. His stomach was in knots during the entire walk. What could he possibly have done?
He turned the corner and froze. His father, Albert, was standing in the front of the main office. The night before, he’d turned their apartment upside down looking for Teresa’s car keys because he had to “handle some business.” He’d totaled Teresa’s last car and it had taken her two years to save up for a new one. She’d learned to hide her keys when he drank too much. After tearing through their apartment and telling both Nick and Teresa to go to hell, Albert left and didn’t come back for the rest of the night. Now he was here at Nick’s high school, looking well rested and pleasant. A completely different person.
Albert turned and spotted Nick standing still as a scarecrow. He smiled at Nick and beckoned him forward. Nick had no idea why his dad was there, but he looked happy. And being the sole object of Albert’s attention was always something that Nick had craved. It had been a while since Albert had a good day, and although Nick was wary, hope bubbled up inside of him as he walked toward his father.
“Hey, Dad,” Nick said. “What’s going on?”
“I’m here to take you to your doctor’s appointment.”
Nick stared. He didn’t have a doctor’s appointment that day. “I don’t . . .”
“I said I’m here to take you to your doctor’s appointment,” Albert repeated, winking. Still smiling.
Someone cleared their throat. Nick turned and noticed the office secretary, Ms. Sanford, watching him and his dad. Ms. Sanford’s second most important job after giving out tardy slips was spreading gossip. Everyone in their small town of Warren already thought of Albert as the once-promising basketball star who’d turned out to be such a disappointment. Ms. Sanford was looking at Albert now with a mixture of mild disgust and intrigue. Like she was both ready to call security if necessary or give Albert her telephone number if he’d asked for it.
“Oh yeah, sorry,” Nick said, turning back to Albert. Automatically, Nick’s mouth stretched into a smile too, his instinct to protect his father taking over. “I forgot all about the appointment.”
Wordlessly, Albert clapped Nick on the shoulder and signed him out early.
“Where are we going?” Nick asked as they walked toward the parking lot.
“I need your help with something,” Albert said, his hand still on Nick’s shoulder. Albert walked with a slight limp due to a poorly treated broken ankle his senior year of high school, but that didn’t keep him from moving briskly. He was always in constant motion, with somewhere to be and plans to execute. “Thought we could spend some quality time.”
Nick’s chest warmed at Albert’s words. The truth was that he cared less about where Albert was taking him and more about the fact that Albert had sought him out in the first place. Maybe after so many weeks of disappearing acts, Albert actually missed Nick and wanted to spend time with him. Should he have waited until Nick’s school day had finished? Maybe, but that was Albert’s spontaneous nature and Nick was used to it by now. And the two of them hadn’t spent an afternoon together in ages.
Nick hurried to keep up with his dad and frowned a little when he saw his mom’s Toyota in the parking lot. Albert pulled the car keys out of his pocket. Nick didn’t want to ask if he’d found them or if his mom had given them to him.