Page 68 of Thin Ice

He rubbed his face with both hands. Pressed his palms into his eyes.

"I don't know what I'm going to do, Liam."

I pulled him closer. His head came to my chest, and I held him there and his body was tense against mine, vibrating with the math he couldn't stop doing.

Eight fifteen. I could feel the clock without looking at it. Jerry didn't care about excuses.

"We'll figure it out," I said.

"That's not a plan."

"I know it's not a plan. And sometimes you don't need a plan. It's just one step at a time."

"So… what's first he turned to me." His blue eyes wanting an answer.

"Okay," I said. "I need to tell you something."

He lifted his head.

"I've been working at Jerry's. Not helping out. Working. Full time. Every day this month. Eight hours, eighty bucks a day, cash."

He looked at me.

"That's where I've been going when I texted you about errands."

He was quiet for a second. Then he put his head back on my chest.

"I figured," he said.

"You figured?"

"Liam. I know you well enough by now that you do what you need to get by."

"You're not surprised?"

"No."

I felt something loosen in my shoulders. He'd known. He'd been waiting. And it hadn't changed anything. I was seriously wrong about everything.

"I've gotta go in today," I said. "Jerry's expecting me at nine."

Alex sat up. Looked at the window like nine o'clock was a physical thing approaching from outside.

"Every day?"

"Every day. That's the deal." I sat up beside him. "But here's what I'm thinking. Jerry could probably use you too. He's got work. Boats to check, engines to drain, a whole lot of shrink-wrap that needs patching after every storm. He pays cash. Eighty a day."

Alex looked at me.

"Eighty dollars a day."

"Yeah."

"Liam. My tuition is forty thousand dollars a year. Eighty dollars a day doesn't fix that."

"I know it doesn't fix that."

"So, what's the point?"