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“Dad invited me.”
“Oh.” He put the phone back on the counter and blinked. “You hungry?”
Kit rubbed her forehead. “Sure.”
Mackey smiled. “I made dog cheese.”
It took him five minutes to rummage around in the fridge, dump the contents of a container into a bowl, and nuke it in the microwave. He pressed the warm bowl into her hands gingerly, then cupped the back of her hands twice to ensure her grip was sound.
“You got it?”
Kit nodded, staring down at the generous heap of macaroni and cheese with bite-sized chunks of hot dog mixed in. “How do you . . . Who gets the groceries? I mean, since Viv left?”
Mackey pointed toward the front door. “The lady puts the bags on the front steps on Tuesday. Said she’s beat on Mondays and won’t come that day, but she always brings ’em on Tuesday.” His brow furrowed. “Tuesday at five in the afternoon. Not the morning—the afternoon. At five. And I give her forty-three dollars and thirty-seven cents. ’Cept not the thirty-seven cents, cuz she don’t want no pennies. She said keep the pennies and just give her one quarter and one dime. No pennies.”
“What’s the lady’s name?”
“L.A. She said call her L.A., like the city.” He looked at the ceiling, brow furrowing. “And no Miss. She said she ain’t no ‘Miss’ nothing. Just call her L.A.”
“And who cleans?” Kit glanced around the kitchen, spotless save for the clutter of pots, bowls, and spoons she’d knocked onto the floor. “Who does the laundry and—”
“I do that all.” Mackey’s voice rose. “I give L.A. forty-three dollars and thirty-seven cents.” He whispered, “No pennies.” Then nodded. “I bring the bags in. I cook the dog cheese. I clean the kitchen, wash the laundry. Wash the dishes.” His chin trembled. “I don’t need Viv to take care of me. I don’t need you taking care of me. I don’t need Mama taking c—” He pounded his fist against his chest and covered his face. “I take care of me!”
“I can see that,” Kit said softly. “I can see you do, Mackey, and it was my mistake. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just that . . . I guess I still think of you as my little brother, you know? No matter how old you are.”
He made a face, then ran a hand through his shaggy hair. “It’s okay.” He glanced down at the bowl in her hands and smiled. “You want me to sit with you while you eat?”
She shook her head. “I’m going to visit with Dad. I’ll eat in his room.”
Mackey lingered for a moment, frowned at the mess she’d made, then smiled at the bowl in her hands again. He patted her shoulder. “Night.” Then he shuffled toward the door.
“Mackey?”
He stopped on the threshold, faced her, and raised his eyebrows.
She smiled, a bittersweet ache blooming in her chest. “You’ve grown into quite a man.”
Mackey blushed, covered his smile with both hands, then left. His bedroom shoes swooshed along the hardwood floor to his bedroom, and a door clicked shut moments later.
Kit cupped the bowl tighter in her palms, absorbing its warmth, then walked down the hallway to the last room on the right. She knocked on the closed door.
“Dad?”
No answer.
“I’m coming in, okay, Dad?”
Receiving no response, she opened the door slowly and peeked in to find Royal stretched out on the bed, exactly as she’d left him a couple of hours ago. The lamp still cast a dim glow over a portion of the room, and several bowls of Mackey’s hot dog and mac and cheese mixture sat cold and untouched in a neat row on the dresser opposite the bed.
Kit entered the room quietly, stepped carefully around the broken glass littering the floor beside the bed, and placed her bowl next to the others on the dresser. She entered the small en suite bathroom and retrieved a washcloth from the scuffed cabinet below the rusty sink. After wetting the washcloth with lukewarm water, she returned to the bedroom, sat on the edge of the bed, and gently lifted Royal’s arm from his forehead and replaced it with the moist washcloth.
“Dad? I need you to wake up for a minute.”
His eyelids moved, opening to narrow slits. “I told you to go away.”
Kit’s belly tightened, the hoarse sound of his voice evoking a fresh wave of regret. “No, you didn’t. You called me two days ago.” She forced a smile. “So I came home.”
He blinked once, then opened his eyes fully. “Kit?”
