in the soft, thick covers. “We can keep each other warm a bit, okay?” she said, as she pulled him up in her lap, and then cuddled him close.
Melvin Lee nodded.
“How old are you, honey?” Cathy asked.
“Almost eight.”
“Then you must be a second grader. Did you run away from school?”
He started crying. “I’m supposed to be a second grader, but they held me back in first grade ’cause I couldn’t read so good. My mama keeps me out of school a lot to help her with the babies.”
Cathy hugged him a little closer, patting his shoulder as she began to rock them both.
“Are you the oldest?” she asked.
“Yes. Then Willy, then Arnie, then Lucy.”
Cathy was trying to imagine having four children under the age of eight and couldn’t. She’d never even had one.
“Why are you running away?” she asked.
“Mama told us today she’s havin’ another baby, and I don’t want no more brothers or sisters to take care of,” he said, and started to wail. “I don’t wanna be the dumb kid in the class. I need to learn myself how to read, and how to count money and stuff.”
“Oh, honey,” Cathy said, and then held him closer.
She was still holding him when she saw Duke’s truck, and then she saw the look of concern on his face as he pulled up in the drive and got out with the sack of food.
“Cathy! What happened? You two are soaked to the skin.”
“This is Melvin Lee,” she said. “Melvin Lee, this is my friend, Duke Talbot.”
Duke frowned. “Are you one of Danny Wilson’s kids?”
“Yes, sir,” Melvin said.
“I went to school with your daddy. Are you hungry?”
The little boy wiped the tears off his face.
“Yes, sir.”
“Do you like chili dogs and french fries?” Duke asked.
Melvin Lee’s eyes widened. “Yes, sir.”
“I’ve got plenty. Come inside where it’s warmer. Both of you,” he said.
Melvin Lee let go of the blanket and slid out of Cathy’s lap, but Duke was looking at Cathy. She was soaked to the skin, and her ankle was bound to be throbbing. Her curls were even tighter and clinging to her head and down the back of her neck. But it was obvious her concern was solely focused on the little boy.
Duke handed the sack to Melvin Lee and picked her up and carried her into the house, then into the kitchen.
“You are something else,” he said softly. He put her down in a chair, then proceeded to get out plates and glasses and start dividing up the food.
He poured half of his chocolate malt in a glass for the little boy, then put one of the chili dogs and some fries on a plate and scooted it toward him.
“Dig in,” Duke said.
Melvin Lee didn’t have to be told twice. He was chin deep in his chili dog, and talking a blue streak.
As soon as he paused to take a breath and another bite, Cathy asked, “Want ketchup on your fries?”
“No, ma’am,” Melvin Lee said, talking around the bite he was chewing.
“So where’s your daddy working these days?” Duke asked, and dunked his fry into a well of ketchup on his plate.
“Somewhere up in the Pennavanna.”
“In Pennsylvania?” Duke asked.
Melvin Lee nodded. “Yeah. That. He ain’t never home long. He says he has to keep a-workin’ to feed us all. I wished he could find work closer to home so when Mama is having one of her bad days, he could stay home and take care of the young’uns, and I could stay in school.”
Cathy glanced at Duke. “His mama made an announcement this morning that kind of rocked his world,” she said softly.
Melvin Lee nodded. “Yep. I heard her talkin’ to Daddy on the phone. She told him she was preggers again, and I decided it was time to move out. I ain’t takin’ care of no more babies. I gotta learn to read good and do my numbers. I don’t wanna be the dumb kid in the class no more.” Then he took another bite of the chili dog. “This here chili dog sure is good.”
Duke smiled. “I agree,” he said, and then poured a little more of his chocolate malt into Melvin Lee’s glass.
Cathy was smitten with both of them. The little guy’s view of the world was old far beyond his years, and Duke’s calm acceptance of what made little boys tick was endearing.
And then she heard a knock at the door.
“I’ll get it,” she said, and jumped up and rolled out of the room before Duke