Last Year's Mistake - Gina Ciocca Page 0,9

walk alone.” The look of concern on his face made me feel awful for being such a wimp. “I’ll go with you.”

I tried to protest, but he called up to my parents, who, ever paranoid, told me to stay with him until they got back. Not that I minded.

We chatted the whole walk home, and I’d forgotten I was supposed to be feeling sick by the time we reached David’s grandfather’s house. Until we stepped into the kitchen, and the sensation that something wasn’t right caused a real knot to form in my stomach.

David’s father sat crouched in the door frame that separated the kitchen and dining room, a dustpan in one hand and a small broom in the other. At his feet lay a pile of broken glass.

“Dad? What happened?”

Mr. Kerrigan exhaled and scratched his head, but before he could answer, Jay appeared in the doorway from the living room. “The two of you think you’re funny, hiding things on me?” he shouted, pointing his finger in David’s face. “Next time I’ll tear this whole house apart!”

I jumped and hid behind David without thinking, then immediately felt ridiculous. He might’ve been yelling like a maniac, but Jay was a slight, silver-haired old man. His eyes were bloodshot, his robe sagged on his frame, and despite being mid-outburst, he looked weary and sad. Like someone who’d spent too many years fighting his demons, only to be bested by them in the end.

Over the next few minutes, as I cowered near the back door, I learned that David’s father had hidden Jay’s alcohol before he left for Goodwill. After he drove off, Jay had gone looking for it and, when he couldn’t find it, opted to throw almost every glass in the cabinet against various kitchen surfaces instead.

“I’ll finish cleaning this, Dad. You go take care of him,” David spat.

Mr. Kerrigan reluctantly handed over the broom and dustpan, and David knelt to the floor as his father ushered his grandfather upstairs.

I fidgeted uncomfortably. “Um, can I help?”

David shook his head, his lips set so tight that I could see the outline of his braces bulging between his nose and mouth. He made two sweeps into the pan before shoving his tools aside and slumping against the door frame with a heavy sigh, letting his head fall against the wood.

“I don’t get it,” he said, grinding the palms of his hands against his temples. “How can someone throw his life away?” He looked at me with dark, incredulous eyes, not waiting for an answer. “How can you just not care about anything? How can someone own a great place like this and not even give a crap what happens to it?”

I walked over and settled on the floor against the opposite side of the door frame. “I’m sorry.” I didn’t know what else to say. After what he’d said about his family on the Cliff Walk, I got the feeling he wasn’t just talking about his grandfather. “Is there . . . something else going on?”

He didn’t respond right away, absently stroking the smooth curve of a broken chunk of glass on the floor instead. Then he looked at me. “You know my parents are divorced, right?”

“I heard.”

“My mom was the one who wanted it, and she was such a bitch about it. Brought my dad to court over every little thing, nickel-and-dimed him for all their stuff, including our house. Then she turned around and fucking sold it. My dad never did anything to her, and she acted like she had something to prove. But you know how hard she fought for custody of me?” He picked up the piece of glass and tossed it against a cabinet. “She didn’t.”

My heart broke a little bit for him at that moment. I reached out and took his hand, because it felt like the right thing to do. “Her loss.”

“You think so?”

“Totally.”

Light came back to his eyes, and he sat up straighter as he looked from me to our loosely twined fingers. He cleared his throat but kept his hand in mine. “Do you think this can stay between us? I don’t want everyone in Norwood to know how messed up my life is.”

“You’re no more messed up than anyone else, David.”

“Still.” His grin widened. “I’m trying out for the baseball team. I’ll forget all about how I demolished you in the video tournament if you come to some of my games. Since no one there will know me from a hole in