a homeless kid. I let him spend the night here.” And as soon as she said it, she knew she shouldn’t have. She and Becky hadn’t been on the same wavelength for years. Becky had a life, a family, and a home, and a lot to risk. Ginny had nothing, and didn’t care.
“You let a homeless boy spend the night there?” Becky said, horrified. “Are you sleeping with him?”
“Of course not. He’s a child. He slept on the couch. He was living in a shed near my apartment, and it’s ten below here. You can die of exposure on nights like that.” She didn’t think he would, he was young and strong, but anything was possible.
“Are you insane? What if he kills you in your sleep?”
“He’s not going to do that. He’s about eleven or twelve, and a very sweet boy.”
“You have no idea who or what he is, and maybe he’s older than he says, and a criminal of some kind.” The vision of Blue as a criminal in the too-big pajamas was beyond absurd. She hadn’t even bothered to lock her bedroom door the night before. She had thought about it, and dismissed the idea. Nothing about him scared her.
“Trust me. He’s a sweet kid. He’s not going to hurt me, and I’m going to try and talk him into going to a youth shelter. He can’t stay on the streets in this weather.”
“Why should he agree to that, if you let him stay in your apartment?”
“For one thing, because I’m leaving in a few weeks, and he can’t stay here.” Blue had appeared in the doorway of her bedroom, back in the oversize pajamas, and he was carrying his clothes for her to wash, as she had suggested. “Anyway, I can’t talk to you about it now. I have to do laundry. I just called to wish you a merry Christmas. Give Alan and the kids and Dad my love.”
“Ginny, get that boy out of your apartment!” Becky almost shrieked at her. “He’s going to kill you!”
“No, he’s not. Trust me. I’ll talk to you tomorrow. Kiss Dad for me.” She got off the phone a minute later, and in Pasadena Becky looked at her husband with an expression of panic.
“My sister has lost her mind,” she said, nearly crying. “She let a homeless boy sleep in her apartment.”
“Holy God, she is insane.” He was equally worried and strongly disapproving. “She has to get back to some kind of normalcy before she gets herself killed.”
“Yeah, but what can I do about it? I’m here, trying to keep Dad from getting lost or run over by a truck crossing the street. Now I’m supposed to keep my sister from being murdered by homeless boys she lets sleep in her apartment? She should be locked up.”
“It could come to that one day,” Alan said with a grim look. He had always worried that she would eventually lose her mind over the death of her son and husband. But Becky was right, they couldn’t do anything about it.
And in New York, Blue was just as worried. “Who was that?”
“My sister in California,” Ginny said as she took his clothes from him to put in the washing machine in the basement. “I used to live in L.A.,” she explained, as he stared at her unhappily.
“You’re leaving again soon?” he asked with a sorrowful look. He had heard what she had said to Becky. He had just met her, and now he was about to lose her, too.
“Not for a while,” she said calmly. She could see fear of abandonment on his face and in the deep blue eyes. His hair was clean, and he looked immaculate in her pajamas, as they sat down on the couch. “I might go sometime in January, but I don’t know yet. But then I’ll come back. I always do.” She smiled at him.
“What if you get killed?” She was about to say “no one will miss me,” but she could see in his face that he would, although they hardly knew each other. He looked panicked at the thought of her leaving.
“I won’t get killed. I’ve been doing this for two and a half years. I’m good at it. And I’ll be careful. Don’t worry. Now let’s talk about what we’re going to do today. We