Chapter 3

Later, when the table was cleared, I insisted on helping with the dishes, and Mrs. Lombard patted my cheek as usual, thanked me for coming over and spending time with them, and went to bed

That left me all alone with Hollis, and completely tongue-tied. That didn’t stop him, though. He talked about how he came to visit his grandmother every summer, to check on her and make sure she was taking care of herself. She had raised him after some bad stuff had happened with his immediate family, and she was his biggest fan, sometimes to embarrassing proportions.

“Once,” he said, while drying a plate, “Gran was cheering me on at a football game when the referee made what she felt was an illegal call that affected my team. She ran out on the field, got in his face, and shoved him in the chest. I had to intervene before it got ugly. I was teased about that by my teammates for months.”