Chapter 87

“Dad,” Finn was pulling on Dayton’s arm, “did you get it?” He was already snooping around in his dad’s coat pockets. “Did you?”

“Yeah, yeah, of course I got it.” Dayton reached into his back pocket and produced a small plastic square, which sent Finn into near hysterics. As the boy jumped up and down with excitement, Dayton was all smiles. “He’s wanted this for a while.”

“I can see that.”

Finn shot up the stairs. “I’m gonna go play with it now!”

There was a bit of an uncomfortable silence, but Elsie and Fay struck up a conversation about one of Fay’s friends whom Elsie had seen at the mall, and while they discussed the girl’s latest provocativeattire, Dayton and I listened. Elsie and Fay were quite something when they were worked up. They were both hilarious and seemed to feed off each other. Mother and daughter shared the same warped sense of humor.

“Once they get started on that poor girl,” Dayton said, sitting back, “they never stop.”