“You had lunch yet?” I ask, since I have a while until my afternoon clients.
“No, ma’am.”
“Alright, let’s go grab something. There’s a great little sandwich shop across the way.”
He follows me down the street quietly. It’s already stiflingout, the humidity coating my skin in a thick invisible film. The weather’s calling for a massive storm front, building in the west, and headed our direction by evening. Another problem to solve before the days through, lest the chickens drown, and Henry get hit by lightning.
It’s busier than normal as we take a seat at one of the booths in the back, waiting for Randi to come by with our menus.
“Does Vik know you’re here?”
“He said he had a few things to take care of with the guys and that he’d be back later.” He shrugs. “Also, said I’d have to start school next week.”
He looks annoyed at that, but it’s not an option. He’s only fourteen, should be a freshman in high school, but I haven’t thought to ask if that’s the case.
“Were you in school back in Austin?”
He fidgets with the silverware, getting a small reprieve when Randi stops by to take our drink orders and hand over the lunch menus.
“Well?” I ask when she leaves.
“It’s been a while. We moved around a lot, and ma didn’t always get around to enrolling me before we were on the road again.”
Jesus. That woman was a piece of work.
“What’s the last grade you finished, Trenton?”
His head falls forward, concealing himself completely. This isn’t going to be good.
“Seventh.”
I calm the frustration bubbling inside. I hate this for him. No kid should have the opportunity of an education taken away from them because the adult in their life couldn’t get their shit together. Bouncing from one place to another is hardenough, but not having the support of an adult who actually cares is probably why she got away with it.
“Did you like school?”
Everything about his demeanor shifts. His shoulders pull back, and that hood finally comes down, revealing his messy hair—I should really offer him a cut after this.
“It was fine.”
But nothing about the spark in his eyes tells me that’s the real answer.
“Fine, huh? What was your favorite subject?”
The way Trenton lights up when he gets your full attention is like watching Haley treat the world as her stage every single day. What she takes for granted, he absorbs as if it’ll never be offered again.
“Math, hands down. It’s just a set of rules that, when you follow, work out any equation.”
“I’m terrible with numbers, but that’s awesome. You know, I think the high school here has a math club. I want to say I sponsored one of their trips to Dallas for some conference with a world-famous mathematician.”
His eyes grow wide, like he can’t even imagine the possibility. Randi drops off our sandwiches, and the easy conversation flows. I get to know this young man a little more as the minutes tick by. Once we’ve finished, it dawns on me that he showed up with something on his mind.
“I have to head back to the salon soon. What was it you wanted to talk to me about?”
The nervous energy our lighthearted talk dispelled is back. His body jostles in the booth across from me, the material squeaking with every bounce of his knee under the table. Whatever it is, he’s worried about bringing it up.
“You and Vik… you guys are like okay, right?”
Damn. I’m used to having a kid who’s so unaware of her surroundings from growing up in a stable household, that she didn’t think twice about the little unexpected overnight we spent at Lexi’s. If that’s not what gave us away, I’m sure the silence between Vik and me, or the fact that I’veaccidentallyfallen asleep in Haley’s room every night since we’ve gotten back, was easy enough to pick up on.
