Alan drove by their house twice. Both times, the child was sitting in the front yard on a blanket. An arrangement of plastic toys was spread before him. He picked up a truck and threw it down. The mother fussed with the hat on his head, positioning it to better protect his face from the sun. It was a nice house. Two stories, a brick façade on its front facing the street. Cheap vinyl siding everywhere else.
Always gotta put your best face forward, he thought bitterly.
Always gotta put your best face forwardHis childhood home had been like that too.
Only it had never been his home. Not really. His father had made that perfectly clear.
his When he passed their address for the third time, the mother looked up, a question in her eyes.
He stopped the car on the street, right in the middle o
