disappeared down the hallway. "If it's okay, I thought I'd bring some of Cole's furniture over, too. Goose has a van I can use this afternoon."
" Sure. Kid should have some familiar stuff."
" Why don't I help you out with the office then?"
The office was more a collection of piled papers stacked strategically around an ancient desk th an a room. Liam had started going through them a few nights ago until he'd come across faded paperwork for bail bonds for his aunt. He'd abandoned the project and seriously considered getting drunk on the questionable box of red wine that had been hanging around in the back of the fridge the day he moved back in.
" Sorry," he said as he swung the door open. "I figured I could just move everything into the basement for now. Sort through it later."
" Might as well do it now." Ace picked up a handful of documents off the top. "Should go fast with both of us. Make three piles -- keep, maybe, and shred."
" How will you know what's what?"
" Everything older than six years that isn't crucial financial or identification information can go. If it seems like something personal you might want I'll put it in maybe." Ace was already sorting, accessing documents with a rapid glance. "I culled my mother's stuff last year with her. Got an eye for it."
" Anything that looks like it belongs to Horizon Shipping needs a fourth pile. He sold the business, but I think they'd appreciate anything that didn't get to them." Liam reluctantly reached for the stack the seemed to hold most of the personal records.
" Want to put on some music?"
Liam dug out Gene 's radio from a drawer in the desk and tuned it to the classic rock station. It seemed like a reasonable compromise between Ace's heavy metal and his own preferences.
" That work?"
" Sure."
They sorted along with The Who and Led Zeppelin. Occasionally, Liam would catch softly sung snatches of lyrics from Ace's side of the room. The "keep" pile never grew much, while the "shred" pile soared until Liam had to fetch some empty boxes to pile it into.
" He visited you in California," Ace remarked, tossing the tickets into the discard box.
" During my freshman year. He could still travel back then. Barely knew he was sick yet, just started going to doctors to figure out why he was tired all the time. We spent most of the trip on the beach, avoiding all the parents' weekend events." Liam tossed a stack of credit card statements into the shred box. "I visited him after that. Came home at holidays. I got into a school that was closer by, but Berkley offered me a good scholarship and Gene told me to go. Sometimes I wish I'd stayed."
" What'd you have to keep you here?"
" Aside from Gene?"
" No one can live at home forever. So yeah, aside from him."
Liam tucked Gene 's passport into the keep pile and thought about it.
" Nothing." Which was depressing in its own right.
" Better you went then." Ace chucked a pile of papers into the shred box. "I keep thinking that if you grew up around here, then whoever taught you to ink must have been pretty close by."
"He wasn't from around here." Resting both hands on the next pile, Liam closed his eyes until the sick feeling receded.
" You all right?"
He could say yes and retreat. But Ace had listened before. Listened and not judged. For the first time in years, Liam thought he might have actually made a friendship worth working on. But he 'd have to earn it.
" I took some classes as the city community college during high school. There was a program -- the details don't really matter." He stared blankly down at a bank statement, slowly crumpling in the too hard clutch of his hands. "One of the guys in my art class saw my work and liked it. He worked at a big place down the street, and he got me in as his apprentice. Gene was happy I had some part-time work, so I went out a few nights a week."
" And then you got so turned around so badly you didn't go back to it for three years."
" Sort of." Liam opened his eyes back
" Sure. Kid should have some familiar stuff."
" Why don't I help you out with the office then?"
The office was more a collection of piled papers stacked strategically around an ancient desk th an a room. Liam had started going through them a few nights ago until he'd come across faded paperwork for bail bonds for his aunt. He'd abandoned the project and seriously considered getting drunk on the questionable box of red wine that had been hanging around in the back of the fridge the day he moved back in.
" Sorry," he said as he swung the door open. "I figured I could just move everything into the basement for now. Sort through it later."
" Might as well do it now." Ace picked up a handful of documents off the top. "Should go fast with both of us. Make three piles -- keep, maybe, and shred."
" How will you know what's what?"
" Everything older than six years that isn't crucial financial or identification information can go. If it seems like something personal you might want I'll put it in maybe." Ace was already sorting, accessing documents with a rapid glance. "I culled my mother's stuff last year with her. Got an eye for it."
" Anything that looks like it belongs to Horizon Shipping needs a fourth pile. He sold the business, but I think they'd appreciate anything that didn't get to them." Liam reluctantly reached for the stack the seemed to hold most of the personal records.
" Want to put on some music?"
Liam dug out Gene 's radio from a drawer in the desk and tuned it to the classic rock station. It seemed like a reasonable compromise between Ace's heavy metal and his own preferences.
" That work?"
" Sure."
They sorted along with The Who and Led Zeppelin. Occasionally, Liam would catch softly sung snatches of lyrics from Ace's side of the room. The "keep" pile never grew much, while the "shred" pile soared until Liam had to fetch some empty boxes to pile it into.
" He visited you in California," Ace remarked, tossing the tickets into the discard box.
" During my freshman year. He could still travel back then. Barely knew he was sick yet, just started going to doctors to figure out why he was tired all the time. We spent most of the trip on the beach, avoiding all the parents' weekend events." Liam tossed a stack of credit card statements into the shred box. "I visited him after that. Came home at holidays. I got into a school that was closer by, but Berkley offered me a good scholarship and Gene told me to go. Sometimes I wish I'd stayed."
" What'd you have to keep you here?"
" Aside from Gene?"
" No one can live at home forever. So yeah, aside from him."
Liam tucked Gene 's passport into the keep pile and thought about it.
" Nothing." Which was depressing in its own right.
" Better you went then." Ace chucked a pile of papers into the shred box. "I keep thinking that if you grew up around here, then whoever taught you to ink must have been pretty close by."
"He wasn't from around here." Resting both hands on the next pile, Liam closed his eyes until the sick feeling receded.
" You all right?"
He could say yes and retreat. But Ace had listened before. Listened and not judged. For the first time in years, Liam thought he might have actually made a friendship worth working on. But he 'd have to earn it.
" I took some classes as the city community college during high school. There was a program -- the details don't really matter." He stared blankly down at a bank statement, slowly crumpling in the too hard clutch of his hands. "One of the guys in my art class saw my work and liked it. He worked at a big place down the street, and he got me in as his apprentice. Gene was happy I had some part-time work, so I went out a few nights a week."
" And then you got so turned around so badly you didn't go back to it for three years."
" Sort of." Liam opened his eyes back
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