He was certain, though, that Mom would be proud of how well I'd done on my own.
Maybe.
He considers me very “impressive.”
At first I thought he was full of it, the way he'd just sit, not saying much. At first I thought he didn't care. Now I think he probably does. He shows up every day at 6:00 P.M., stays with me for two hours, sometimes more, doesn't mind if we don't do anything.
Before he left, he noticed the chessboard that Sam left and asked if I wanted to play. He's about as good as Sam, and I beat him two out of three. He said, “Okay, next time,” and I said, “Prepare to lose.” He laughed and I asked him who's paying him to play games and he said the police, don't worry, he'd collect, he always does.
Sometimes he tells jokes. Some of them are funny. The nurses seem to like him. I heard one nurse ask another if he was married and the other one said she wasn't sure, she didn't think so.
He and Petra would make a good couple.
I can imagine the two of them in a nice house, a good car, some kids, a dog. Or even one kid, so he could get all their attention.
Nice happy family, taking trips, going to restaurants.
Maybe it happens. I don't know. I'll never stop thinking about Mom- the door's opening and for a moment I think it's her.
It's Petra and she's wearing a red suit.
That's different, she always wears black. She's carrying a bag, and she gives it to me.
Inside is a book.
The presidents book. Not the one from the library. A brand-new one- clean cover, crisp white pages. It has that new-book smell. The colors in the illustrations are very bright. This is very cool.
“Thanks,” I say. “Thanks a lot.”
She shrugs. “Enjoy. Who knows, Billy, someday you might be in there.”
“Yeah, right.” It's a crazy idea. But an interesting one.
Jonathan Kellerman
Jonathan Kellerman is one of the world's most popular authors. He has brought his expertise as a child psychologist to numerous bestselling tales of suspense (which have been translated into two dozen languages), including thirteen previous Alex Delaware novels; The Butcher's Theater, a story of serial killing in Jerusalem; and Billy Straight, featuring Hollywood homicide detective Petra Connor. His new novel, Flesh and Blood, will be published in hardcover in fall 2001. He is also the author of numerous essays, short stories, and scientific articles, two children's books, and three volumes of psychology, including Savage Spawn: Reflections on Violent Children. He and his wife, the novelist Faye Kellerman, have four children.
