Gene was still in the stairwell. “That’s the girl from Friday night, isn’t it?”

“Yes. See what the hell you’ve done, ya bastard?”

“What the fuck?” he asked with a grin.

“I have no idea.”

He followed me down and grabbed the second bag while I lifted the first.

“She’s living here now?”

“Yeah.”

“Holy shit, kiddo. You move even faster than I do.”

“Yeah,” I sighed. “Just kind of happened that way.” I told him the bare essentials of the story. We stood outside, both freezing from the hard wind.

“Well,” he said, drawing the words out slowly. “You did an admirable thing. And I wouldn’t worry about it. I’m sure everything will be fine.”

“I sure as hell hope so.”

“Oh, to be young and reckless again,” he said whimsically.

He followed me up the stairs.

“Hi there,” he said to Carolyn. “It’s good to see you again.”

“You too.”

“So you’re with us now, huh?” She nodded. “Great, great. Well, I’m heading out now. I’ll have extra keys made and drop them off when I return.”

“Thank you,” she said.

Gene shut the door behind him. Thomas investigated the apartment and sprinted beneath the bed when the first train passed. A half hour later, after a few had gone by, he approached their roar with indifference.

“He’s a fearless cat,” I said.

“I watched him be born. He’s from my mom’s cat back home.”

I was still feeling a little rotten about Jimmy, but receiving Gene’s affirmation helped pull me from my funk. I kicked off my shoes and jumped on the bed. “So what do you say we officially christen the new arrangement? ”

Carolyn crawled in beside me with a devilish grin. She ran her hands up my back and my reservations melted away. Maybe it wouldn’t be so bad after all.

fourteen

1

THE FIRST LETTER ARRIVED a few days later, on Christmas Eve. A Saturday. The familiar Ohio State Penitentiary return address in the upper left-hand corner, the same red stamp on the back over the seal. My name and previous address written in pencil in the same thick block letters I’d grown accustomed to, all uppercase. Carolyn had gotten the mail and placed the envelope on top of the pile. I grabbed it from the counter. The post office had rerouted the letter from New York, which meant the sender would be notified of the change of address, which meant my father would soon know where I lived. Out of habit, I had set a forwarding address the day I moved into the apartment. It was a stupid mistake I now regretted.

“Are you okay?” Carolyn asked from the bed. I was scowling down at the envelope, biting my bottom lip.