His teacher Mr. Kelly, a lanky white man who suffered from a constant sinus infection, stared at Nick expectantly. “Well then, get up, Mr. Brown,” he said, sniffling.
Nick stood and grabbed his books, fumbling to shove them inside his backpack. He handed his unfinished exam to Mr. Kelly and headed for the main office. His stomach was in knots during the entire walk. What could he possibly have done?
He turned the corner and froze. His father, Albert, was standing in the front of the main office. The night before, he’d turned their apartment upside down looking for Teresa’s car keys because he had to “handle some business.” He’d totaled Teresa’s last car and it had taken her two years to save up for a new one. She’d learned to hide her keys when he drank too much. After tearing through their apartment and telling both Nick and Teresa to go to hell, Albert left and didn’t come back for the rest of the night. Now he was here at Nick’s high school, looking well rested and pleasant. A completely different person.
Albert turned and spotted Nick standing still as a scarecrow. He smiled at Nick and beckoned him forward. Nick had no idea why his dad was there, but he looked happy. And being the sole object of Albert’s attention was always something that Nick had craved. It had been a while since Albert had a good day, and although Nick was wary, hope bubbled up inside of him as he walked toward his father.
“Hey, Dad,” Nick said. “What’s going on?”
“I’m here to take you to your doctor’s appointment.”
Nick stared. He didn’t have a doctor’s appointment that day. “I don’t . . .”
“I said I’m here to take you to your doctor’s appointment,” Albert repeated, winking. Still smiling.
Someone cleared their throat. Nick turned and noticed the office secretary, Ms. Sanford, watching him and his dad. Ms. Sanford’s second most important job after giving out tardy slips was spreading gossip. Everyone in their small town of Warren already thought of Albert as the once-promising basketball star who’d turned out to be such a disappointment. Ms. Sanford was looking at Albert now with a mixture of mild disgust and intrigue. Like she was both ready to call security if necessary or give Albert her telephone number if he’d asked for it.
“Oh yeah, sorry,” Nick said, turning back to Albert. Automatically, Nick’s mouth stretched into a smile too, his instinct to protect his father taking over. “I forgot all about the appointment.”
Wordlessly, Albert clapped Nick on the shoulder and signed him out early.
“Where are we going?” Nick asked as they walked toward the parking lot.
“I need your help with something,” Albert said, his hand still on Nick’s shoulder. Albert walked with a slight limp due to a poorly treated broken ankle his senior year of high school, but that didn’t keep him from moving briskly. He was always in constant motion, with somewhere to be and plans to execute. “Thought we could spend some quality time.”
Nick’s chest warmed at Albert’s words. The truth was that he cared less about where Albert was taking him and more about the fact that Albert had sought him out in the first place. Maybe after so many weeks of disappearing acts, Albert actually missed Nick and wanted to spend time with him. Should he have waited until Nick’s school day had finished? Maybe, but that was Albert’s spontaneous nature and Nick was used to it by now. And the two of them hadn’t spent an afternoon together in ages.
Nick hurried to keep up with his dad and frowned a little when he saw his mom’s Toyota in the parking lot. Albert pulled the car keys out of his pocket. Nick didn’t want to ask if he’d found them or if his mom had given them to him.
“What do you need my help with?” Nick asked as Albert started the car and pulled out of the parking lot.
“Just something small,” Albert said easily.
The sound of the radio drowned out any additional questions that Nick might have asked. He stayed silent in the passenger seat for the duration of the drive, taking in their surroundings until they pulled into an unfamiliar apartment complex.
“Come on,” Albert said, getting out of the car. He flashed Nick another one of those warm smiles.
Nick glanced around, curious. He didn’t know anyone who lived in this complex, but clearly Albert must have. Maybe he was going to see one of his friends and wanted Nick to tag along? But where did helping him come in?
Nick got out of the car and followed Albert through the apartment complex. There were kids playing in the street and people sitting on their patios. Albert waved and smiled at anyone who spared him a questioning glance. They walked around to the back of the complex and Albert approached an apartment and knocked on the door. When no one answered, he peeked through the window. He glanced over his shoulder. Back here, no one was outside to see them. He picked at the screen until the bottom gave and he partially rolled up the window.
He walked back over to Nick and gave him a direct, imploring look. “I need you to be my lookout, okay, Nicky?”
“Uh.” Nick glanced around again. “But—”
“This man stole from me,” Albert continued. “Last night at the pool hall. I just need to get my money back. And we’ll use that to get some dinner. I’ll pick up your mom from work on the way. We’ll get Cook Out. Your favorite, right?”
Nick nodded, silent. Stealing was wrong. Breaking into someone else’s house was illegal. But if this man had stolen from Albert first, did that change things? Nick didn’t know. But Albert had asked him for help when he could have asked anyone. He trusted Nick. Nick wanted to be someone his dad felt like he could trust.
“Good.” Albert squeezed Nick’s shoulder. “I appreciate you, son.”
Nick watched as Albert hoisted himself through the window, and Nick nervously glanced up and down the street. He heard his dad bustling around inside, cursing to himself. Whoever lived here might not have been clever enough to lock their windows, but they’d hidden Albert’s money in a good-enough spot.
Soon, a black pickup truck came barreling down the street, and Nick willed the driver to keep going, but he pulled up right in front of Nick.
Nick whistled to alert Albert as a heavyset Black man climbed out of the truck. He paused at the sight of Nick.
“Hey, ain’t you Albert’s boy?” he asked.
“Uh.” Nick looked at the man’s name tag on his work shirt. frank was written on his left breast pocket in thick, black letters. “Um.”
Then Albert opened the apartment door, grinning triumphantly, stuffing a wad of money into his back pocket. Said grin dissolved when he saw Frank.
“Albert, you son of a bitch!” Frank yelled, running toward them.
Albert took off through the complex with Nick right on his heels. Frank shouted and cursed as he chased after them.