Page 102 of String Boys

Kelly grunted. “Yeah.”

“We’re not alone,” she said, looking Kelly in the eyes.

He smiled crookedly. “I got your back, Mommy.”

“And we’ve got yours,” Craig said softly.

She swallowed and nodded. “And that’s why we’re holding hands. I’m as pissed at God as anybody, but I’ve got to give thanks for everyone at this table.”

Seth squeezed Kelly’s hand and was relieved to feel the squeeze back.

“Thank you,” Craig said softly.

“Good.” Linda released everybody’s hand. “So, Seth, now that we’re thankful for this lovely gift, what in the hell happened to your face?”

Seth tried to contain a smirk. “I was born,” he said. “Dad, can you dish up some spaghetti for Chloe? Chop it into little bites. I’ll eat when she’s done.”

“I will beat you!” Kelly muttered. “Jesus!”

Seth glared. “I was walking across a parking lot with a friend, and we got jumped,” he said. “They were trying to rob us, but we fought back.”

Kelly snorted softly.

“What? I told the truth!”

“And I saw his face. It wasn’t as bad as yours!”

“You can fight?” Lulu asked, fascinated. “How do you fight? Your hands aren’t beat up at all!”

“Elbows,” Seth said. “Feet. I still run.”

“Cool,” Agnes breathed. Her mother glared at her, and her grin back, through a round face so much like Kelly’s, took Seth’s breath away.

“Was this at Bridgford?” Craig asked, pulling his attention away.

Kelly sent him a meaningful look.

“No. I, uh, sort of got a playing gig at, uh, a place.”

Linda and Craig were looking at each other with twin expressions of exasperation on their faces.

“A place,” Linda said, raising her eyebrow at Seth’s father.

“A place,” Craig repeated. “He very clearly said a place. He said ‘a gig,’ and he said ‘a place.’”

“A place can mean many things.” She nodded as though pondering.

“A place can be a planetarium,” Craig agreed.

“It can be a small stage at a riverfront café,” she mused.

Craig looked directly at Seth until Seth started to squirm. “It could be a strip club.”

Seth swallowed. “It could be a country-western bar?” He smiled ingratiatingly, but his father’s grimace told him that this option wasn’t any better than strip club. “I made….” He resisted the impulse to look at Linda and Kelly and whisper. “I made some money,” he finally said. “It, uh… you know. Money is good.”

Linda blinked slowly and then looked from Seth to Craig.

Seth was sort of relieved when his father looked away from her, his ears turning red.