Tina huffs a small laugh, her hands resting on my chest. “I’m sure. Besides, if we wanted to sneak upstairs without being caught, we probably shouldn’t have stopped right in front of the restaurant to make out on the sidewalk.”
A knock sounds on the window behind Tina and I look up to find a grinning Rhett waving at me through the glass. “Youmake a good point,” I say, glaring at Rhett before looking back at Tina. “We should have gone to my place.”
She sighs, the smile on her face lighting her eyes. “No. I need to close up. The kid who’s working doesn’t even have keys. And didn’t you say you needed to go check on Jared?”
“Shit,” I say with a groan. She’s right. I need to go check on him. He’s still pretty upset about his breakup, and I don’t want to leave him completely alone. He’s been at the gym with the other trainers for most of the night, but I still want to check on him before I spend the night at Tina’s. “How about this? I’ll check on Jared while you close the store, then I’ll come by after. And we can continue where we left off.” I take her lips in a quick kiss. “Half an hour,” I murmur against her lips. “I’ll be back in half an hour. Close quickly.”
I turn from her lips, bang on the window and give a quick wave to Rhett, then take off running back to my place, the sound of Tina’s laughter echoing along the storefronts as I go. The jog to my house is quick, and before I know it, I’m running upstairs to check on Jared.
When I get to his room, he’s getting ready to go out and meet some friends.
“Hey, Jared. Nice to see you up and about.”
He shrugs and continues fixing his hair in the mirror, arranging the long locks in the perfect disheveled swoop over his eyes. “I thought about what you said, and you were right. I need to focus on what I’m doing here if I want to be successful. Besides, I talked to Gloria, and she told me what’s going on with my latest foster parents. Thanks for agreeing to let me stick around until she finds me some new ones. I’m sure I’ll be out of here before you know it.”
Gloria, Jared’s caseworker, informed me earlier that Jared’s foster parents don’t want him back. Just like that. After he was here with me for a few weeks, they discovered they werepregnant, and removed themselves from the foster parent program altogether. The assholes didn’t even have the decency to say goodbye to him. Even with knowing what they do about his history, about how many times he’s had to move to new foster homes without notice, they still didn’t write so much as a note. If I were the vengeful type, I’d pay them a visit. It’s a good thing for them I’m more worried about how Jared feels than about delivering a bag of flaming goat turds to their front porch.
I might still do that, though. It’s on the back burner for now.
Knowing he’s facing yet another new foster home, I asked Gloria to take another crack at tracking down Jared’s parents. Maybe they’ve been looking for him, but because he’s moved around so much, they can’t find him. If there’s any possibility they could reconcile, now would be a great time.
“There’s no rush, buddy. You can stay here as long as you need.” I make a mental note to call Gloria on Monday. I don’t want Jared to go to just anyone. He’s a good kid who doesn’t deserve to be shunted around any more than he already has. He can stay here until she finds him a good, permanent foster home. In fact, I might insist on it.
“That’s nice of you, man, but it’s cool. I’ll stay here until the end of the school year like I was supposed to, and then I’ll move on. Maybe I’ll move to California and learn how to surf or something.”
I scoff. “I doubt your new foster parents will be out of state. Not if reconciliation is still the goal.”
Jared laughs dryly, turning to face me. “Reconciliation hasn’t been on the table for a long time, Nick. I haven’t seen my real parents since I was nine years old. For all I know, they died in a trap house or under a bridge somewhere.”
My heart breaks for the kid. Behind his laughter is pain. It’s there in his eyes, plain as day. “Jared, you don’t know that. Yourparents could be out there, working hard to get clean so they can get you back.”
“You have no clue, do you?” Jared asks with a heavy sigh, his shoulders sagging under the weight of his thoughts. “Do you know why I went into foster care when I was nine? Did Gloria tell you?”
I nod. “She said your parents were addicts who couldn’t take care of you properly. Child Protective Services placed you into temporary custody until they could sort themselves out.”
“Exactly! Temporary custody. When I was nine. If they wanted me back, they would have gotten clean by now. I stopped hoping for that after the first couple of years. Do you know what I wished for after that? A permanent placement.” He laughs. “But I couldn’t even get that.” He lists items on his fingers. “I worked my ass off. Got good grades. Mastered several martial arts. Was the perfect kid at home and at school. And still, here I am, about to be sent to yet another new foster home. So you’ll forgive me for considering giving up on the whole system, and taking care of myself instead.” His eyes fill with unshed tears. “I can’t do a worse job than my parents did. I’m pretty sure I can keep myself away from the kinds of creeps and lowlifes they used to drag me around to, anyway.”
I can’t take the pain in his voice anymore, and before I know it, I’m wrapping him up in a tight hug, the tears streaming down my face matching the ones he’s soaking my Tit Peepers shirt with. “That is not happening, you hear me? You’re not going anywhere until you’re eighteen, or something better comes along. This is your home for as long as you need it.”
“You don’t mean that.” He sniffs through his tears and tries to push me away, but I squeeze him tighter.
“I do mean that, kid. You’re not going anywhere.” When his arms wrap around me, I know he’s accepted my offer. He’ll stay. I sniff back my tears and smile, feeling the rightness of this. Thistime, when he pushes away from me, I let him go. “Do we have a deal?”
He nods, swiping at his cheeks with the backs of his hands. He blows out a breath, then chuckles. “Yeah, we have a deal. Thanks, Nick.”
“No problem, kid. I like having you around.” I watch as he fixes his hair in the mirror again, perfecting that swoop one more time. “I, uh, didn’t mean what I said about not going anywhere, though.” His face drops and I realize my mistake. “No, no. Not like that. I mean that you can still go hang out with your friends and stuff. You’re not confined to the house, or anything. You’re just not moving out any time soon.”
A smile creeps back onto his face, and he nods. “Yeah, of course. I knew that.”
“Okay, then. So…yeah. Good talk.” I punch his shoulder playfully, not sure what to do now.
He smothers a smile. “Can I go now? My friends are waiting.”
I nod, the reality of what I’ve just done creeping into my consciousness. “Yes. Go. Have fun. Be home by midnight.”
“Midnight? That won’t work. The movie doesn’t start until ten. There’s no way we’ll make it back from Spitz Hollow by midnight.”
He’s right. That’s not enough time to make it back here. “Text me when you leave the movie theater, then. So I know you’re on your way.”
