Page 60 of What Boys Learn

“I agree. It might scare some sense into him. I think he’s going to be okay. We’re all going to be okay.”

“So, you don’t need me now.”

Here we go. The knight in tarnished armor.

“No, I don’t need you at the present moment. We’ll be okay. And you’re going to be okay, too, Robert. Take care.”

I felt bad the moment I disconnected, but I also knew we’d have a better conversation once he’d sobered up.

I shook off my irritation, peed since I was already in the room, washed my hands, and looked in the mirror. Limp hair. Bloodshot eyes. Shiny nose.

Opening the bathroom door again, I heard nothing. I assumed it meant that Benjamin had closed the communications spigot and returned to his bedroom. Instead, when I came out, he and Curtis were still sitting together amicably, finishing their plates of Thai food.

“Sorry for the interruption,” I said.

“Nothing to be sorry for.” Curtis stood up and carried his dish to the sink, where he washed it without asking, then stacked it to dry. Just when I was about to tell him to leave his pop can he rinsed it out and opened the cupboard beneath the sink. “Recycling in here somewhere?”

“The cardboard box next to the detergent.”

“Good.” He turned and smiled. “Time for me to go.”

At the door, he said, “Can you bring Benjamin to my office tomorrow at noon?”

I looked back over my shoulder, expecting a protest, but Benjamin was studiously ignoring me, eyes on his plate.

“He agreed,” Curtis said, intercepting my glance. “Wow. That’s . . . something.”

“And given that I need to be up in Wisconsin with my father in two weeks or so, we can do some daily sessions, for as long as they’re helpful.”

The skeptic in me expected Benjamin to resist after the first session, but I kept it to myself.

“He also agreed not to write to his uncle for the time being. A letter in the wrong hands could suggest something unsavory. Appearances could matter, especially if Benjamin ends up in front of a judge.”

“So he admitted to you he was writing to Ewan. You must have the magic touch.”

I glanced over at Benjamin, but he seemed intent on pretending that he couldn’t hear us.

“That’s plenty of progress for our first conversation,” Curtis said, smiling. “Get some rest.” He pecked me on the cheek—a pleasant surprise. “Plenty of time left in the day. Chance to tidy up the place.”

I tried to hear that comment as intended—advice, not rebuke. I whispered, “One last thing.I’m not sure how much you charge.”

“We’ll figure it out. By the way, don’t forget to apply for the Grove summer position—if you want it, that is. I looked at your CV on LinkedIn this morning, and I’m sure you’d have no trouble getting the job.”

“You looked at my CV?”

“Just in case I could help.” He lowered his voice. “Not a good idea to have your physical address uploaded to a publicly visible CV, by the way.”

I couldn’t believe I’d made that mistake. But I’d been distracted all week, updating my documents and doing a half-assed job search—and that was before last night’s arrest.

“That’s how you knew where we lived.”

Curtis nodded and gave me one of those half winks so fleeting I wasn’t sure if I’d imagined it. “The bigger mystery is, how did I know you like pad thai?”

Trying to match his playful tone, I said, “Everyone likes pad thai.”

He leaned into my ear. “It’s good to see you smile, even if you’re faking it.”

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