one of them seemed concerned about their mother, but it wouldn’t do me favors to say so. “Have you seen or talked to your mom since she was arrested?”
The kid on the couch made a face. “Nah. We can’t see her.”
“What about your dad?”
The kid who’d answered the door laughed. “He ain’t gonna waste his time.”
“Why not?” I asked, trying to hide my shock.
Disgust covered his face. “She’s never gettin’ out, so why would he bother?”
I stared at him in disbelief. “Because he loves her?”
The guy on the sofa slapped his thigh and barked, “That’s a good one.”
“Don’t you guys care that your mother is in jail?” I hadn’t intended to say it so bluntly, but it burst out of me.
The kid on the sofa looked up at me, and I saw momentary pain flicker over his face, but he quickly covered it up with a look of manufactured contempt. “I’m gonna be movin’ to Knoxville in another year. So I wouldn’t be seein’ much of her then anyway.”
So this was Ricky. It was obvious this was hurting him a lot more than he was letting on. “You planning to go to college at UT?”
He snort-laughed. “That’s a good one.”
I couldn’t help myself from asking, “Do you have a career plan?”
“Now you sound like my teachers,” he said with a sneer.
“Yeah, well…” Old habits died hard.
“Thanks for the casserole,” Ricky said, returning to his video game. “We’ll be sure to eat it later.”
So I’d been dismissed. Not that I was surprised. “Yeah, sure.” I headed to the door, feeling like I’d screwed up, not because I’d failed to get useful information, but because Pam’s kid was hurting and he clearly didn’t know how to express it. Or feel like he could.
I started to walk out the front door, but I couldn’t bring myself to just leave like that. Turning around, I asked, “Hey, did you know Seth Chalmers?”
“What?” His gaze shot up to mine.
“Seth Chalmers. The boy who was killed last November. I think he was about your age.”
His expression sobered. “Yeah, I knew him.” His eyes widened. “Hey, you’re the woman who saw him killed, ain’t ya?”
“Yeah.”
His forehead furrowed. “Why’re you asking about him?”
“I don’t know,” I said truthfully, but to be honest, Seth was never far from my thoughts. I was sleeping in his bed. Living with his grandfather. I’d been the one to pack up his things. I’d held his hand while he died. The only people I knew who’d been close to Seth were Hank and Wyatt, but I suspected his friends had seen a different side. Still, I hadn’t even thought to ask about him until I was leaving, thinking about Ricky’s potentially wasted future. Maybe the reason I’d hesitated to leave Ricky like this was because I couldn’t help Seth, but Ricky still had a chance to make something of himself. “Were you two friends?”
He didn’t answer, but the boy I presumed to be his brother, Thad, said, “They were.”
“What was he like?” I asked.
Ricky didn’t answer at first, but then he swallowed audibly. His gaze was still on the TV screen, but I realized his avatar hadn’t moved since I’d asked about Seth. “He was cool,” he finally said.
“He was funny,” Thad said. “At least until his mom died. Then he turned serious.”
“I’m sure that was hard on him,” I said.
Ricky shrugged, looking indifferent. “She was a meth head.”
“But he loved her anyway,” I said softly. “He died trying to find out who was responsible for her death.”
He didn’t answer.
“She screwed up,” I said, “but he still loved her. We can’t turn that off just because someone has disappointed us.”
His head jerked up, his eyes locked on mine. “You think you’re a psychologist or something? You’re nothing but an old waitress at a dumpy bar.”
His remark was meant to sting, and it did, but I saw the pain in his eyes. “No,” I said, my voice tight. “I’m just a woman who has been disappointed by many of the people in my life, so I get wanting to understand.” I gave him a tight smile. “I’d love to know more about Seth. If you ever feel like talking about him, call me or drop by at the tavern.”
He gave me a long look, then turned back to the TV and said in a flippant tone, “Whatever.”
Thad glanced between me and his brother, then shrugged and headed into the kitchen.
There was nothing else to say, so I headed out the door, wondering if I’d