Chapter 10

“Hey,” I greeted her.

She smiled at Leonard, glared at the old bat, and turned back to ask him, “Did you like the pie? I made it.”

He nodded, but wisely didn’t say nothing.

“You gave him pie?” The way the woman asked, you woulda thought “pie” meant “poison.”

“Yes.” Hazel’s answer was a challenge. After a couple minutes, Hazel won the staring contest.

The old lady grabbed Leonard’s hand and stalked out of the office. Leonard turned his head after they cleared the doorway. I winked at him. He blinked back at me. He had some work to do on his wink.

Later that afternoon as I was cleaning up, I thought about the kid. If me and Jimmy ever had a boy, Leonard was the kind of kid I’d want. He looked like the spitting image of Jimmy and had the same spirit. I just needed to know how to make my wish come true.