9
Six-year-old Troy rushed over to his mother. “Mom, mom!”
“What, dear?” She brushed a blade of grass from his tawny hair. He was growing tall, like his dad, and his blond curly hair was getting darker, like hers.
“Paul says I can have a sleepover at his house tonight. Can I, please?”
Scarlett glanced at Leela, who smiled and shrugged. “Sure,” Leela said. “That’s fine with me.”
“Puh-leeze, mom? It’ll be fun!”
“It’s lonely at night, just you and me, isn’t it?” Scarlett asked her son softly. She drew a menthol cigarette from its package and lit a match. Troy hugged her.
“Yeah,” he said.
“All right,” she said. “Just this one night. Remember, it’s school tomorrow.”
“Paul goes to a different school than I do. He goes to St. Edmund.”
“I know. That’s no problem. You’ll go to Calder as u
