taken for new IDs in the morning. He’d soon be asking where his father was and why they weren’t going home as planned.
“The family is in a little trouble, Tommy,” she began, watching him sit upright and wrap his arms around his knees.
“It’s difficult to explain, but Dad’s taken a new job to help us out of trouble. It’s very far away and we won’t see him… for a while.”
Tommy’s eyes had misted over. Sarah pretended to not notice and pressed on.
“We have to keep a low profile whilst Dad works. I’ll tell you more about that tomorrow, but the good thing is that we have lots of money ‘cos Daddy’s working so hard. We can live anywhere we want to.” She was reaching, hoping that Tommy’s interest in other countries would soften the blow.
Tommy’s eyes drilled into his bedcovers. He couldn’t look at her. “Mum. Who’s going to look after me?”
Sarah fought off a wave of grief and guilt. “I am, Tommy, with some help from Granda Tom.”
The boy stayed silent for several long, uncomfortable moments before lifting his eyes back to hers. They were filled with tears. It hurt him to ask.
“Can you do that, Mum?” He looked in agony, having to ask, but he couldn’t not ask.
The trust between them had been shattered by hundreds of cutting remarks from Sarah, countless occasions when she’d let him know he wasn’t wanted, dozens of hours spent in a vaped-out heap on the couch whilst he looked after himself. They’d only just begun to know each other and to form web-thin tendrils of trust once more. It was a big ask; rebuilding their relationship had been going well, but this was a big leap forward that he just wasn’t ready for.
Sarah wrapped her arms around her son and let him cry against her breast in a pose that mirrored hers and Granda Tom’s a few minutes previously.
“Tommy, I know that I’ve let you down, but for now, it’s just you and me and Granda. I promise you, I swear with all of my heart, that I’ll never let you down ever again. Not if we live to be a thousand years old.”
Tommy clung tightly to her. Saying nothing he just hung on and wept.
The next afternoon found them in a deli named Maize & Blues in Ann Arbor, Michigan, eating sandwiches and listening to Tom’s friend describe the process of forging new identities for the three of them. Sarah listened absent-mindedly, whilst she watched the waitress and some local kids chatting to Tommy. The kid seemed a little happier since their late night chat and seemed, on the surface at least, to be processing their situations. How he would cope in the coming days and weeks without his father remained to be seen. Alex hadn’t missed a day of their son’s life until now. Every bedtime, breakfast, grazed knee, or worry, Alex had been the one who Tommy went to, who Tommy needed. It was going to be difficult on all three of them, the adjustment. Sarah was determined to be up to the task.
“Is that okay with you, love?” Robert asked.
“Huh? Oh, sorry, Mr Hamilton, I was miles away. What was that?”
Robert smiled warmly at her and explained the procedures they’d go through the next day at a colleague’s office. Robert was as big in person as he looked in the photo she’d seen of him. What hadn’t come across in the photo was how gentle the big man was. Looking sixty, rather than eighty years old, he carried himself with a lightness – grace people used to call it – and, if anything, was even more composed and calm than Tom himself. He was powerfully built for his age: Christ, he was powerfully built for a man in his thirties. Robert looked like he’d been a power-lifter but moved like a dancer. He had exactly the same intelligent, irreverent wit as Tom. She saw instantly why the men had been lifelong friends.
Robert had explained to her that he’d settled in Ann Arbor years before after his friend Kim took him in. “Saved my life and taught me how to fight,” Rob had said of Kim. It was obvious
“The family is in a little trouble, Tommy,” she began, watching him sit upright and wrap his arms around his knees.
“It’s difficult to explain, but Dad’s taken a new job to help us out of trouble. It’s very far away and we won’t see him… for a while.”
Tommy’s eyes had misted over. Sarah pretended to not notice and pressed on.
“We have to keep a low profile whilst Dad works. I’ll tell you more about that tomorrow, but the good thing is that we have lots of money ‘cos Daddy’s working so hard. We can live anywhere we want to.” She was reaching, hoping that Tommy’s interest in other countries would soften the blow.
Tommy’s eyes drilled into his bedcovers. He couldn’t look at her. “Mum. Who’s going to look after me?”
Sarah fought off a wave of grief and guilt. “I am, Tommy, with some help from Granda Tom.”
The boy stayed silent for several long, uncomfortable moments before lifting his eyes back to hers. They were filled with tears. It hurt him to ask.
“Can you do that, Mum?” He looked in agony, having to ask, but he couldn’t not ask.
The trust between them had been shattered by hundreds of cutting remarks from Sarah, countless occasions when she’d let him know he wasn’t wanted, dozens of hours spent in a vaped-out heap on the couch whilst he looked after himself. They’d only just begun to know each other and to form web-thin tendrils of trust once more. It was a big ask; rebuilding their relationship had been going well, but this was a big leap forward that he just wasn’t ready for.
Sarah wrapped her arms around her son and let him cry against her breast in a pose that mirrored hers and Granda Tom’s a few minutes previously.
“Tommy, I know that I’ve let you down, but for now, it’s just you and me and Granda. I promise you, I swear with all of my heart, that I’ll never let you down ever again. Not if we live to be a thousand years old.”
Tommy clung tightly to her. Saying nothing he just hung on and wept.
The next afternoon found them in a deli named Maize & Blues in Ann Arbor, Michigan, eating sandwiches and listening to Tom’s friend describe the process of forging new identities for the three of them. Sarah listened absent-mindedly, whilst she watched the waitress and some local kids chatting to Tommy. The kid seemed a little happier since their late night chat and seemed, on the surface at least, to be processing their situations. How he would cope in the coming days and weeks without his father remained to be seen. Alex hadn’t missed a day of their son’s life until now. Every bedtime, breakfast, grazed knee, or worry, Alex had been the one who Tommy went to, who Tommy needed. It was going to be difficult on all three of them, the adjustment. Sarah was determined to be up to the task.
“Is that okay with you, love?” Robert asked.
“Huh? Oh, sorry, Mr Hamilton, I was miles away. What was that?”
Robert smiled warmly at her and explained the procedures they’d go through the next day at a colleague’s office. Robert was as big in person as he looked in the photo she’d seen of him. What hadn’t come across in the photo was how gentle the big man was. Looking sixty, rather than eighty years old, he carried himself with a lightness – grace people used to call it – and, if anything, was even more composed and calm than Tom himself. He was powerfully built for his age: Christ, he was powerfully built for a man in his thirties. Robert looked like he’d been a power-lifter but moved like a dancer. He had exactly the same intelligent, irreverent wit as Tom. She saw instantly why the men had been lifelong friends.
Robert had explained to her that he’d settled in Ann Arbor years before after his friend Kim took him in. “Saved my life and taught me how to fight,” Rob had said of Kim. It was obvious
Similar Books
