“I am.”
“That your mom?” He nodded toward the kitchen.
“Yeah.”
“She’s here, then. Maybe they don’t always stay here, but some do.” He looked down at his hands. “And maybe they can come back.”
“Like going home?” I asked.
That smile came back. “Yes, Ox. Like going home. That’s… it smells like that here. Home.”
“I smell bacon,” I said sheepishly.
Mark laughed. “I know you do. There’s a house. In the woods. Down off McCarthy. It’s empty now.”
“I know that house! I live right near it.”
He nodded. “I thought you might. It explains why you sme—”
Jenny came back. Brought him his soup. He was polite again, nothing more. Not like he’d been with me.
I opened my mouth to ask him something (anything) when my mom came back out. “Let him eat,” she scolded me as she placed the plate in front of me. “It’s not nice to interrupt someone’s dinner.”
“But I—”
“He’s okay,” Mark said. “I was the one being intrusive.”
Mom looked wary. “If you say so.”
Mark nodded and ate his soup.
“You stay here until I’m off,” Mom told me. “I don’t want you walking home in this. It’s only until six. Maybe we can watch a movie when we get home?”
“Okay. I promised Gordo I’d be at the shop early tomorrow.”
“No rest for us, huh?” She kissed my forehead and left me to it.
I wanted to ask Mark more questions, but I remembered my manners. I ate my burger instead. It was slightly charred, just the way I liked it.
“Gordo?” Mark asked. It was almost a question, but also like he was trying out the name on his tongue. His smile was sad now.
“My boss. He owns the body shop.”
“That right,” Mark said. “Who would have thought?”
“Thought what?”
“Make sure you hold on to her,” Mark said instead. “Your mom.”
I looked up at him. He seemed sad. “It’s just us two,” I told him quietly, as if it were some great secret.
“Even more reason. Things will change, though. I think. For you and her. For all of us.” He wiped his mouth and pulled out his wallet, pulling a folded bill out and leaving it on the table. He stood and pulled his coat back over his shoulders. Before he left, he looked down at me. “We’ll see you soon, Ox.”
“Who?”
“My family.”
“The house?”