She Has A Broken Thing Where Her Heart Should Be - J.D. Barker Page 0,103

from Willy and me in the same conference room, same chairs, Gerdy and I had sat in three months earlier. Even his brown tweed suit appeared to be the same.

Matteo tapped his pen on the top of a lined pad of yellow notebook paper. He had yet to write anything. “You’re as pale as a hemophiliac after donating blood, and you’re sweating.”

“It’s warm in here.”

“It’s seventy degrees in here,” he shot back. “You’re a fucking drunk, and your body is craving a taste.”

I said nothing.

“I told your aunt you couldn’t be trusted on your own. A teenage boy with no supervision. She swore up and down that you were a good kid, that you could take care of yourself. In the past few months, I fielded dozens of calls from your school and social services. When you took it upon yourself to stop attending class, your principal called the county. Do you have any idea how hard it was to put that fire out and keep them from checking on you? That’s not the worst of it, though. The worst has been that neighbor of yours, your so-called ‘guardian.’” His chubby fingers formed air quotes. “Apparently you missed some kind of grocery delivery, and she lit up my phones a couple times an hour. Poor Tess had to run to the store for her and make a delivery. Be ready to see a hefty bill for that against the estate. My office is not a delivery service.”

“I’m sorry.”

Matteo stopped tapping. “I know you’ve been through some shit, kid, more than anyone should ever have to deal with, but you gotta pull yourself together. This needs to stop, or pretty soon there won’t be a way back.”

My hand started shaking again. I put both on my lap, under the table.

“Do I need to send you to some kind of rehab?”

He asked the question of me, but he was looking at Willy when he asked it. Both Willy and I shook our heads.

“I can stay with him for a few days,” Willy offered. “I got Gatorade, like you said. There’s no alcohol left in the apartment. My big brother had a drinking problem, and I helped my mom detox him. The first couple days will be rough, but then it gets better. I know what to do.”

Matteo eyed him, looked him up and down, then turned back to me. “Your aunt gave me a list of your friends. Next to this one’s name, she wrote the word ‘responsible’ and underlined it. She was a smart woman.”

He leaned back in his chair and thought for a second. “How much money do you have in your pocket?”

I wasn’t sure. I reached in and pulled out a wad of cash from the left front pocket of my jeans and a few coins from my right. I set my small fortune on the table and counted it out. “Twenty-four dollars and thirty-eight cents.”

Matteo reached over and slid the cash in front of Willy. “You hold that.”

Willy stared at him, confused.

The attorney turned back to me. “For the next few months, your stipend from the trust will be paid out directly to Mr. Trudeau here. He will buy your groceries when he goes shopping to buy whatever your crazy neighbor throws on her list. Absolutely nothing will be spent on alcohol, drugs, prostitutes, gambling, or whatever other vices you’ve decided to sample of late.”

I opened my mouth to tell him I’ve only been drinking, but he silenced me with a glance.

“What trust?” Willy asked.

Matteo held up a finger, quieting him too. “In exchange for your trouble, Mr. Trudeau, you will be paid a salary of one hundred dollars per day, also from the trust. You will keep Mr. Thatch clean and out of trouble. The second he steps out of line, you pull him back. If you don’t pull him back, I put an end to your newfound wealth. Stay in his apartment as long as necessary. Understand?”

Before he could answer, Matteo turned back to me. “The conditions of your trust are very clear, and I plan to honor your aunt’s wishes. In order to collect the balance, you must graduate from college. You can’t graduate college if you don’t graduate high school, and you can’t graduate high school if you don’t go. When school starts back up next month, I expect you to be there. You need to finish out your senior year, keep the grades up, and get into Penn State. No more fucking around.