Page 4 of String Boys

“No,” she said seriously. “Thankyou.I know you three had to work hard to be string boys this year, but I think you should keep going. Matty, Seth doesn’t have a mom or an older brother. He needs you to keep him going to practice. Kelly, you’re the best cheerleader in the world—I know you’ll help him out.” She bit her lip and looked a little sad. “Boys, I know your father tells you that you need to play sports to be men, but sometimes all you need is to do something really super good, and work to do it better. That’s what it takes to be men.” She eyed Seth thoughtfully. “Seth, sweetheart, I think being a string boy is your thing.”

Seth nodded soberly and took a sip of his chocolate. He didn’t want to argue with her. He loved this idea. But he didn’t like being the center of attention either.

“Fine,” Matty said, sounding bored. “Fine. We’ll be string boys one more year. But after that, we’ll just walk him home from practice. Playing the violin isn’t anything I want to do any more than soccer!”

“Understood, Little Man,” Linda said, her face completely straight.

Seth wondered at first if he was the only one who could tell she was laughing kindly at her son’s machismo. Then he caught Kelly rolling his eyes, and he smiled back.

For once he was in on the joke.

There was a knock at the door then—not scary. An asking knock.

Seth jumped to his feet, and Linda gave him an understanding look.

“It’s okay,” she said softly. “You won’t get in trouble for being here. Besides, I don’t think it’s him.” She frowned as she moved from the tiny kitchen to the door. “Javi?”

Matty and Kelly’s dad stood outside, an obviously newly purchased bouquet of flowers in his fist and a small bag of toys dangling from his other hand.

“Hi.” Xavier Cruz was a barrel-chested man with a blocky head who wore giant denim cargo shorts and oversized sports shirts all year round. Tonight he wore a thick navy peacoat over the ensemble and a shy, tentative look on his face. “I… I wanted to tell the boys congratulations. And say hi. And see the girls. I should have called, I know, but I didn’t know if I could get the second job off, and—”

Seth never knew why they had split up in the first place. He was a child, and they were grown-ups, and he wouldn’t have asked anyway. But for the rest of his life, he would remember what forgiveness looked like.

“Come in, Javi,” Linda said, smiling shyly back. “We were celebrating.”

Xavier ducked his head. “That’s awesome. Is that hot chocolate?” His look held a terrible hope.

“Sit down—I’ll get you some.”

Matty and Kelly’s dad walked inside, laughing when Lulu, the more adventurous of the twins, who had a head full of fine black curls like Seth’s except his were yellow, ran headfirst into his legs. “Lulu-bear! Come here!”

And that was the signal. All of the children, Matty included, ran to embrace their father, and it was time to leave.

Seth set his chocolate down quietly and walked through the kitchen toward the door, but Linda stopped him. “Sit down, honey. I’m breaking out the cookies, and you don’t want to miss that.”

Seth gaped at her, but then Matty and Kelly’s dad stuck his head into the kitchen. “Come on out, Seth. I got you a present too—you played real nice.”

Seth’s face heated. “Thank you,” he stammered.

Xavier winked and walked to the sink, the grocery store flowers still clutched in his fist. “Wanted to make sure they got water,” he said, looking shyly at Linda again. She glanced away, biting her lip, and Seth wouldn’t have made it to the door anyway without getting between them. He turned around just as Xavier touched her shoulder and she murmured something about a vase, and they probably kissed after that, but Seth was already in the living room again.

“Look!” Matty said, waving three Hot Wheels triumphantly in front of him. “Dad brought presents, and Christmas isn’t until next week!”

He thrust a small rectangular fire truck into Seth’s hands, and Seth turned it around delightedly. “That was really nice,” he said softly. “I have to remember to say thank—”

At that moment, they all heard the slam of the door to the apartment below them.

Seth’s skin went cold. “I have to go,” he said simply. He looked to the table where his violin case sat, and thought of the consequences of his father coming home so late and what they might mean for the fragile instrument he’d come to love. He’d gotten all of his practice in well before Craig Arnold had any idea what he was doing. “Watch my violin for me?” he asked, not wanting to know what Kelly and Matty’s sober nods might mean. He swallowed. “And the car,” he whispered, pushing it into Matty’s hand. “I’ll get them tomorrow.”

They could all hear Seth’s dad knocking about in the apartment below. “Mrs. Cruz, Mr. Cruz, I gotta go!” he hollered, and then, bypassing the kitchen, he ran around the living room to the landing, grabbing his coat from the peg before he hit the door.

His father was still kicking off his boots and hollering his name by the time he slid inside.

“Seth!”

“Right here.” Seth kept his voice even, because the consequences of shouting back were terrifying.

Craig Arnold turned around, displeasure written large on his once-handsome face. Seth had seen his parents’ wedding photo. His mother had been beautiful, golden-eyed, with skin of pale bronze, black curly hair. His father had been just as pretty—narrow peach-toned face, blond hair even as an adult, and eyes about three shades darker than his new wife’s.