Because one thing was for sure: Kirk Chandler was not going to give up.
KIRK’S HANDS were clammy and trembling as he started his Vette Wednesday morning after crossing-guard duty. He had an appointment at the hospital in fifteen minutes. For the past hour he’d been replaying the early-morning phone call from his attorney. Susan had agreed to the paternity test.
As early as that afternoon, Kirk might have his son. At least in name. And, knowing Troy, it wouldn’t be long after that before he was holding the boy in his arms. He couldn’t wait to tell Valerie.
Mostly to keep his thoughts in check, he put in a call to her office on the way to his appointment. She was on the bench, as he’d known she would be, but just hearing her on voice mail calmed him. He didn’t leave a message.
This was something he wanted to tell her in person. But he didn’t think he’d be able to wait until that evening to share his news.
Test over in minutes, Kirk tried Valerie again, his heart skipping a beat when she answered her phone.
“Hi,” he greeted her.
“Kirk, hi.” The note of gladness that usually accompanied her greeting wasn’t there. Her immediate question explained it. “What’s wrong? Is Blake bleeding again? I knew I should’ve made him stay home an extra week or two. Seventh grade can be pretty stressful—”
“Whoa, slow down,” he interrupted with a smile. “I’m just calling to ask you and the boys out to dinner. I have some good news.”
“I’m sorry, I can’t.” Her refusal surprised and disappointed him, not that any negative emotion could last against the elation he was feeling. He’d been given a second chance. “With Blake being sick,” she said, “I let things go for too long at home and I’m overwhelmed with chores.”
“Can I help?”
“No, the boys have to help. Remember?”
Yeah, and being included in that intimate family memory just added to the glow of this day.
“I could help with their homework while you do other things.”
“That’s okay. They don’t usually have much on Wednesdays except word lists to study. They help each other with that.”
“How about a quick trip for ice cream?” She hadn’t been this difficult to convince in months. Not that Kirk was deterred by that. Right now, life was as close to perfect as it was ever going to get for him.
“I’m sorry, Kirk, I do want to see you, I need to talk to you, but tonight just isn’t good.”
Kirk hung up the phone and shook off the sense of foreboding the conversation had given him. Whatever was bothering her he’d just have to fix.
Odd, though, how she’d never asked about his news.
IN SPITE OF HIS CALL to Valerie, Kirk was still buoyed when he left school that afternoon. And, since he couldn’t see Valerie and her boys, he knew exactly who he should spend his evening with.
Abraham was delighted to see him, almost too delighted. The boy was outside when Kirk pulled up—and since the visit was unplanned, he couldn’t have been waiting for him. Kirk wondered how much time the boy spent out on the street corner, thinking about escape.
“This is so great, Coach,” Abraham said, jumping into the car.
“Don’t you think you ought to tell Mrs. Morton where you’re going?”
“Nah,” he said, shaking a head with hair unusually tousled. “They aren’t home. Went to some aunt’s for dinner, but I didn’t want to go.”
Pulling slowly away, Kirk glanced at the boy. “They often leave you home alone?”
“I’m not in jail!”
No, but judging by the way he looked, he could have been; all he lacked was the blue cotton pants and short-sleeved shirt. For a boy who’d always been impeccably, if inexpensively, put together, Abraham had fallen apart. His clothes were dirty, the crotch of his pants hanging down to his knees, his shirt looking like he’d slept in it several nights in a row. His hair was longer than normal, unwashed, unkempt.
Over dinner, Kirk’s unease only grew. “I can’t believe you’re really here,” the boy said at least four times as they shared a pizza and some soda at a place around the corner from the Mortons’. It wasn’t the words that bothered Kirk so much. It was the desperation with which they were uttered.
If the
situation didn’t improve soon, Abraham was going to do something drastic.