The Boy by Betty Jane Hegerat Read Free Book Online Page B

tried to slip out the door with a CD in each pocket of his jacket.
    Daniel has been let off with a warning once again. Jake paces up and down the kitchen, punching his fist into the palm of the other hand. “You know what’s even worse than his stealing those CDs?” From her chair at the table where she’s been sipping gingerale, eating dry soda crackers, Louise just nods. She knows he isn’t looking for a dialogue, and now is not the time to tell him that she suspects that what she has is not the flu after all. Half of her class was away with flu the last few days of school, but this morning, she is sure that hers is not a viral problem. “He lied. He told me he didn’t know how they got there. Said some kids he knows from school who are always picking on him were in the store and he thinks they slipped the CDs into his pockets.”
    Louise stands finally, and steps into Jake’s path in the middle of the kitchen. She holds out her arms. “Is that possible?”
    He leans on her, shakes his head, his chin bristling against her hair. “I don’t know. Do other kids hate him? Is he being bullied? Brenda used to say he was a victim, that he let himself get set up over and over again. But I’ve never really seen it.”
    â€œJake, we need to get help for Danny. I know a good psychologist.”
    â€œWould we all have to go? I hate that kind of stuff, Louise.”
    Me, too, she thinks, but I’ve never had to consider seriously the possibility before. “I think we can start with just Danny.”
    â€œOkay,” he says, “but this clinches it. I want to move back to the country. We know people there, Danny will have friends, and it’s close enough for the two of us to commute to work together for the rest of the year.”
    â€œAnd who will look after Danny while we’re commuting and working in the city?”
    â€œNo problem,” he says vaguely. “I have a couple of cousins right in town with kids that age. I’m sure we can find someone for before and after school. And it’ll only be until June.”
    They’ve decided that Louise will take a year off teaching, help her dad sell the house and move into a seniors’ complex next door to the nursing home, and with luck, she’d be pregnant before it was time to decide whether or not to go back to work in the fall. As much as she wants another house, she’s not sure about small town life. She’s been charmed by the friendliness of the people she’s met on the couple of visits to Jake’s family in Valmer. But she’s a city girl, and the thought of having to plan her life around trips to Edmonton is not appealing. She’s been hoping Jake isn’t really serious. What about the library, the German deli, the Greek bakery, the restaurants when nothing in the fridge looks appealing at 6:00? What about the friends who phone for a spur of the moment coffee or lunch?
    â€œWhat about Danny?” Jake asks. “Isn’t he worth at least giving it a try?”
    Ah, yes, what about Danny? They’d planned to watch a movie together tonight, the three of them. Eat turkey sandwiches in front of the television. Maybe establish a new Boxing Day tradition, Louise had dared to dream. She’s pretty sure Daniel is not writing thank you notes in his room.
    On a Saturday afternoon in late January, Louise rings the doorbell at her dad’s house, a courtesy she’s always followed, but finally uses her key when there is no sound of movement from within. Through kitchen, dining room, living room, she calls until she opens the bedroom door and finds him sprawled between bed and floor, one hand clawed for the quilt, the other clutching the telephone hand piece. There is no life in this pose, nor any doubt when she sees blood-swollen ankles protruding from striped pyjama bottoms. Still, Louise kneels beside her father, trying to warm his cold cheeks between