The little boy did as he was told. He threw everything he had into his sleeping bag. When he tiptoed into the living room, he saw Jerry passed out on the sofa. Jerry was rubbing his eyes with his fingers. The ones with the tattoos. For a moment, Jerry almost woke up. But he didn’t. And while Jerry was passed out, they got in the car. With the money in the glove compartment that Jerry didn’t know about. Jerry had taken everything else. In the quiet of night, they drove away. For the first hour, she looked at the rearview mirror more than she did the road.
“Mom? Will he find us?” the little boy asked.
“No,” she said and lit another cigarette.
The little boy looked up at his mom. And in the morning light, he finally saw that her red cheek was not from makeup. And this feeling came over him. He said it to himself.
You cannot fail.
It was his promise. He looked at his mother and thought, I will protect you. Not like when he was really little and couldn’t do anything. He was bigger now. And his arms wouldn’t always be flat and skinny. He would do push-ups. He would be bigger for her. He would protect her. For his dad.
You cannot fail.
You must protect your mother.
You are the man of the house.
He looked out the window and saw an old billboard shaped like a keystone. The weathered sign said YOU’VE GOT A FRIEND IN PENNSYLVANIA. And maybe his mother was right. Maybe it would be different this time. It was their third state in two years. Maybe this time, it would work out. Either way, he knew he could never let her down.
Christopher was seven and a half years old.
Chapter 2
They had been in Pennsylvania for a week when it happened.
Christopher’s mother said she chose the little town of Mill Grove because it was small and safe and had a great elementary school. But deep down, Christopher thought maybe she picked it because it seemed tucked away from the rest of the world. One highway in. One highway out. Surrounded by trees. They didn’t know anyone there. And if no one knew them, Jerry couldn’t find them.
Mill Grove was a great hiding place.
All she needed was a job. Every morning, Christopher watched his mom put on lipstick and comb her hair all nice. He watched her put on her smart-looking glasses and fret about the hole under the right armpit in her only interview blazer. The rip was in the fabric, not the seam. So, there was nothing to do except throw on a safety pin and pray.
After he ate his Froot Loops, she would take him over to the public library to pick out his book for the day while she looked over the want ads in the paper. The book of the day was his “fee” for eating Froot Loops. If he read a book to practice his words, he got them. If he didn’t, he got Cream of Wheat (or worse). So, he made sure to read that book, boy.
Once Mom had written down a few promising leads, they would climb back in the car and drive around to different interviews. She told Christopher that she wanted him to come along so they could have an adventure. Just the two of them. She said the old Ford was a land shark, and they were looking for prey. The truth was that there was no money for a babysitter, but he didn’t care because he was with his mom.
So, they went “land sharking,” and as she drove, she would grill him on the state capitals. And math problems. And vocabulary.
“Mill Grove Elementary School is really nice. They have a computer lab and everything. You’re going to love second grade.”
No matter where they lived, Christopher’s mother hunted for great public schools the way other moms hunted for bargains on soda (they called it “pop” here in Mill Grove for some reason). And this time, she said, he would have the best. The motel was near a great school district. She promised to drive him every day so he wouldn’t be called a “motel kid” until she saved enough to get them an apartment. She said she wanted him to have the education she never got. And it was okay that he struggled. This was going to be the grade when he’d be better at math. This was the year that