Once his initial adrenaline-fueled rage dropped away, Jay felt the heaviness of what he had done to his father. It hung around his neck like a leaden weight and pulled him into a darkness he had never been in before. His father had dug up his cash and taken it. He was back to square one and he was unsure if he could ever bring up Mr. Avery and his offer to his father. He decided to talk to his mother about it and leave it up to her to talk to him. It would be out of his hands from there.

Jay took an afternoon off from work and stopped at the grocery store near the bakery. He bought his mother dish soap, which she had said they were nearly out of, and a six pack of cola. It was such a treat that he wasn’t sure that Rat had even had it before. On a whim, he also bought a pack of gum for his littlest brother.

He walked home slowly, feeling the ache in his muscles from the day’s work. The sun was hot, and his hair stuck to his sweaty face. When he got home his mother was in the kitchen, singing loudly in her lovely alto voice while she chopped up carrots. It was still early, and his father would not be home for hours, so Jay felt safe and relaxed. He set his purchases on the counter and kissed his mother’s cheek.

“Hey, baby.” She said, surprised. “You done for the day?” He nodded and gestured at the paper sack.

“I picked up a few things for you and the boys.” He pulled out a cup from the cupboard and looked in the fridge for the milk. He noticed they didn’t have much left and sighed. “I should have gotten milk, too. Sorry, Momma.” He shut the fridge and filled his cup with water from the kitchen tap.

“Thank you” she said affectionately. He turned to face her and looked down at her caramel face. He could see how beautiful she had once been, before five births and several more pregnancies had taken her figure. Before her eyes were hollowed by a loveless marriage to an unkind man. He frowned, thinking of the dark hatred boiling inside him toward his father.

“Momma, we gotta talk. Today, before he comes home.” He refrained from calling his father Pops, too hurt to allow the man that tender term.

“About what?” She went back to chopping up carrots. Her knife cut the silence easier than it did the root vegetables with its loud chop, chop.

“I talked to a man that helps kids like Rat.” He let his words simmer in the air. He saw her swallow hard and knew her knee-jerk reaction was to deny anything wrong or different about the youngest. It was too late now, though.

“Pops won’t like that.” She warned.

“That’s why I’m tellin’ you, Momma. You gotta listen to me.” He felt an annoyed anger strike against his breast and catch flame. He pulled himself away from the anger and took a deep breath. He rolled his shoulders and tried to relax.

“I’m still your mother. You don’t tell me what to do.” She retorted and tipped the wooden cutting board, dumping the carrot bits into a pot of boiling water on the stove. She wiped her hands on her apron and picked up an onion.

“Momma, this isn’t about me. It’s about Rat. He needs help. You saw what he did to Indie, and the twins and I can feel when he does it. It fuckin’ hurts, like bein’ car sick and drunk all at once.” She glared at him.

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“Watch your mouth.” She was being willfully obtuse, and it made Jay lose his temper.

“I am a goddamn man now, Momma. I’m gonna fuckin’ say fuck if I wanna. That’s not what I’m here to talk about. Listen to me.” His sharpness made her round on him. She had the presence of mind to lay her knife down before starting after him.

“James Junior, I am not going to listen to you if you use that kind of language.” She wagged a finger in his face, and he grabbed her hand and shushed her.

“Shut up, Momma.” She looked shocked but she shut her mouth and glared at him. “This man wants to help Rat, but he needs to have your permission to test him first. He’s offerin’ us money just to talk to him.” He let go of her hand and went to the paper bag on the counter and emptied it while she stood in silence.

“He’s gonna put him in a place for crazies?” she whispered in a defeated sadness. Jay put the cola in the fridge and the soap near the sink. He pocketed the gum for later.

“No, Momma. He knows what Rat does is real because he can do it, too. He showed me.” He explained carefully.

“He gave you the money, didn’t he?” she said finally. He nodded once and crossed his arms.

“I’m going to talk to Rat about it today, but you gotta talk to him.”

“What happens if they like what Rat does? They take him away?” She sounded on the verge of tears and Jay steeled himself. He would not play the comforting man right now. He wanted her to talk to his father and to agree to this.

“I don’t know, but he said we would be made an offer based on his results.”

“Who are these people?” she demanded. He merely shrugged again and shook his head.

“I ain’t asked that much, Momma. He just told me what I’m tellin’ you and said that only Rat’s parents could agree to the test. If you don’t agree though…” he trailed off, realising with a spark of imagination that he had the leverage to make his mother agree. She had turned back to the pot on the stove and was adding spices and other diced vegetables but when he stopped talking, she looked behind her.

“What?” she demanded.

“He said that someone would take Rat, like they’re takin’ the other kids around here. If you don’t agree to have Rat tested, he’s gonna be missing one day.” The twisted truth fell from his lips without a trace of guilt. He didn’t feel the usual flush when he lied and he was even able to put a serious, but worried expression on his face.

“He said that they’re takin’ the kids?” she asked for clarification.

“No, he said that the only way to keep Rat safe was to have him tested.” That much was true, Mr. Avery had indeed said those words, but Jay added his own pressure to the statement. “He said that the people takin’ kids will come for Rat any day now. In fact, just the other night we saw someone trying to get in our window. Ask the boys, we all saw it.”

The pressure, once applied, didn’t need much help. His mother’s countenance was stony. She stirred the pot slowly and finally took the wooden spoon out and rested it on the chopping board.

“I’ll talk to your father tonight. What do we gotta do?” she agreed. Jay felt elation bubbling in him, and it was a struggle to turn his selfish relief into a show of thankful worry for his brother.

“I have Mr. Avery’s number. I can call him as soon as you both agree.” He opened the back door and looked back at his mother and finally felt a pang of guilt when he noticed tears falling down her cheeks. He braced himself again and closed the door, quickly shutting himself off from his feelings of compassion. He had to keep moving forward if he was to make it out alive. If he tripped on his own feelings for his mother or even his brothers, he would end up dead. Or his father would.