Hangman. Faye Kellerman

looked up. “Hi.”

      Decker placed a hand on the kid’s shoulder. “We haven’t found your mother yet.”

      A forced smile that hid a quivering lip. “What about Chris?”

      “We’re working on the both of them. We’ve still got lots to do and lots of options. So the only thing I can say is sit tight and we’ll keep you posted.”

      He blinked several times. “Sure.”

      “We’ve got a couple of things to talk about right now, though. I know your father’s an only child and an orphan. And we know about your mom’s relatives. Before we explore that, do you have anyone in New York that you want me to get hold of?”

      “Like relatives?”

      “Relatives, friends, buddies…”

      “I have friends, but no one I’d want to stay with. At least not right now.”

      “Okay, so that leaves us with your mom’s relatives.”

      “I barely know my grandfather. My mother and he didn’t get along.”

      “So we’re down to your very young aunt.”

      “I guess I could stay with her.” He looked down. “What are my options if I don’t go with my aunt?”

      “On a long-term basis, you’d become a ward of the state—that’s foster care. You don’t want that.” Decker poured himself a cup of coffee. “Tell me why you don’t want to live with your aunt.”

      “She has no money to support me. She’s been living off of what my mom gives her. She parties all the time. She smokes pot and her place is a sty. I know she’d let me stay with her. And I actually like her. But she’s not very responsible.” He dropped his head into his hand. “This really sucks in a life that already sucked!”

      Decker sat down. “I’m sorry, Gabe.”

      “That’s…” He took off his glasses and wiped them with a napkin. “I’ll be okay. Thanks for putting me up.” He drummed his fingers across the kitchen table. “You know, I have my own money. I have savings and trust funds and stuff. Do you think a judge would let me live alone?”

      “Not at fourteen.”

      He looked at Decker. His voice was melancholy. “Could I just stay here for another couple of days until things get sorted out? I’m really quiet. I don’t eat much and I promise I won’t get in your way. I’ll be happy to pay you—”

      “Stop, stop.” The kid was breaking his heart. “Of course you can stay here for a few days. I’ve already talked to Mrs. Decker. She agrees with me. It was actually her idea.”

      Gabe closed his eyes and opened them. “Thanks so much. I really appreciate it. I’m sorry to be such a pain.”

      “You’re not a pain and there’s no need to apologize. You’re in a bind right now. I feel for you. We’ll take it one step at a time.”

      At that moment, Rina walked in with Hannah. Gabe got up. “Excuse me.”

      As soon as he was out of the kitchen, Decker raised his eyebrows. “He asked to stay here a few more days.”

      Rina looked at Hannah. The young girl shrugged. “It’s fine with me as long as he’s not a psycho or anything like that.”

      Decker blew out air and whispered, “He doesn’t appear to be a psycho. But his father is a psycho and I really don’t know a thing about him.”

      “He doesn’t want to live with his relatives?” Rina asked.

      “Apparently not,” Decker said.

      “How many days are we talking about?” Hannah asked.

      “I’m hoping to locate one of his parents soon.”

      “So let him stay.” Hannah smiled. “Even if he is a psycho, there isn’t a lot here to steal.”

      Decker said, “A couple of days won’t make that much of a difference. If it drags on longer than that, we’ll reevaluate.”

      Rina said, “He should be in school.”

      “Not our school,” Hannah said.

      “Why not?” Decker said. “It’s filled with misfits anyway.”

      “It’s an Orthodox day school, Abba, and I don’t think he’s Jewish.”

      “Neither are half the kids in the school.”

      “That’s not true,” Hannah said. “Look, I can take him to school. He’s real cute and I’m sure all the girls will fall madly in love with him. Just don’t blame me if the rabbis have a fit.”

      Rina said. “Sitting around here is only going to make him feel worse.” She turned to Hannah. “Go in and tell him that you’re taking him to your school.”

      “You want me to tell him?”

      “Yes, I do,” Rina ordered.

      “I have choir practice tonight. I won’t get home until late.”

      “Take him with you,” Decker said. “I seem to recall that he plays the piano. Maybe he can accompany you guys.”

      “Right!” Hannah snorted and went in to fetch Gabe from her brothers’ bedroom.

      When she was gone, Decker said, “I hope this doesn’t come back to bite us.”

      “It might,” Rina said. “But even God judges us for our present actions only and not on what He knows we’ll do in the future. How can we mortals do anything less?”

      “That’s a nice little speech, but we mortals have to use the past to judge the future because we’re not God.” He shook his head. “What kind of a teenager doesn’t want to live with his young irresponsible aunt who parties and dopes?” “A kid too mature for his age.”

      HE SAT ON one of the twin beds, his backpack at his feet, staring at nothing while other people talked about his fate. A position he had been in umpteen times before. The room was filled with athletic trophies, paperback books, comic books, CDs, and DVDs, mostly from the nineties. There were posters of Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson, one of Kobe Bryant when he was about seventeen years old. The CDs included Green Day, Soundgarden, and Pearl Jam.

      An utterly normal room in an utterly normal house with an utterly normal family.

      What he would give to live an utterly normal life.

      He was tired of dealing with a psycho for a father, a totally unpredictable maniac with a violent temper. He was sick of having a psychologically beaten-down mother—recently a physically beaten mother. He feared his dad, he loved his mom, but he was sick to death of both of them. And although he was sincerely passionate about his music and the piano, he detested growing up a prodigy. It drove him to do more and more and more and more.

      All he wanted was to be fucking normal. Was that so hard of a wish to grant?

      He heard the knock on the door and wiped his eyes. He looked in the mirror and noticed they were red-rimmed. Fucking-A great! The girl probably thought he was a real wuss.

       Mom, where the fuck are you? Chris, what the fuck did you do with Mom?

      He answered the door. “Hey.”

      “Hey.” She smiled. “You know if you want to hole up here for a few days, you’re more than welcome.”

      “Yeah, your dad already told me that. Thanks. I really mean that.” He bit his lower lip. “I’m sure things will sort out by then. Tell your parents I won’t be any trouble.”

      “I’m enough trouble for the both of us.” She smiled. “Hate to tell you this, bud, but my mom wants