He was so quiet I thought he might have fallen asleep. Whether or not that was a good thing, I wasn’t sure. Finally he said, “You’ve never talked about your family.”

I hadn’t? “I am now,” I said.

I could hear the smile in his reply. “Do you like it here?”

The breeze picked up and brushed my cheek gently. Thing was, I didn’t want to answer him. Of course I didn’t like it. No more than he would like having to stay after school for a month every day to serve an hour detention. But I wasn’t going to tell him that.

“She fell down the stairs.”

This caught him off guard. “Who fell? Your mom?”

I nodded and dug through my bag to find the toothbrush. My fingers found it and I brought it out for him to see.

There was nothing special about it, certainly not. It was just an ordinary brush for cleaning teeth. The handle was blue, the head light purple. There was a rough, rubbery white grip that circled the body. The bristles were splayed every which way imaginable and there were specks of old toothpaste in it.

“Dad was going to throw all of her stuff away. He was so mad… he threw everything of hers from the medicine cabinet into a box and told me to dump it into the trash can behind the house.”

Garrett was listening now, his head tilted to one side as if to hear me better. “But you didn’t, did you?”

“No. I did take them outside to throw away, though. Then I searched through the box. There wasn’t much there. Medicine bottles and the like. A hair brush and curling iron… a hair dryer too.”

“And you took the toothbrush.”

I nodded. “Yeah. It was the only thing I could sneak back in without Dad noticing.”

“What happened then?”

It was simple enough, but the lump in my throat made it hard to speak. “He…he left.”

“Just up and left? Just like that?” He was staring at the sky again.

“To sum it up, yeah. He had a… beer problem too.”

“He was an alcoholic?”

I hadn’t known that there was a word for it. “Yeah. He left one night when he was drunk. Got hit by a car on the main road.”

This stopped him cold. He didn’t even move.

I shifted uncomfortably and tried to change the subject. “Do you think they’ll get here soon?” But Garrett wasn’t to be fooled.

“They both… died, then?”

There it was. That dreaded word. Died. I couldn’t say anything, my mind seemed to be frozen.

“I didn’t know,” he said just above a whisper.

My bottom lip trembled. “I really don’t like it here,” I blurted. “I want them back so bad.”

He nodded and stared out at the house across the street. I took his silence as an opportunity.

“I want them both back, right here, right now. I don’t want to live here. I don’t want to be sitting here with you. I want to be in that tree over there. I can’t cry anymore because my eyes are dried out. My chest hurts because I’m sure something tore out my heart—“

I didn’t realize I had been rambling until Garrett cut me off. “You really think about all that stuff?”

“Yeah. Why?”

He shook his head. “I didn’t think that ten-year-olds could be so… in depth.”

This came as a surprise to me. I’d always been like this. Or so it seemed.

“It’s all true. I don’t like it here… and I want them back. Ben and Kristy just aren’t—“

“They aren’t your parents, huh?”

“Not my parents.”

He sighed and turned to look at me. “You know that they love you, right?”

I nodded. “Sometimes more than others.”

“Then why did you run away today? To the school, I mean.”

For the first time, I wasn’t sure what to say. I had no reason for running away. Maybe for the attention.

“I don’t know,” I said.

His teeth shone in the dark as he smiled. “I bet you do. You’re just not telling yourself.”

This was a new way of looking at it. I hadn’t thought of being able to hide thoughts from myself. “Maybe so.”

Then it hit me. Not a great revelation or anything. Just a simple thought.

I had wanted them to come and find me. Let me know that they were worried and that they never wanted me to do such a thing again. That they wouldn’t let me out of their sight another minute.

I smiled to myself and turned to Garrett. “I miss Ben and Kristy already. I want them to come back.”

He nodded. “Me too, buddy… me too.”

Then he did something that surprised me more than anything. He leaned over and hugged me.

It wasn’t one of those warm hugs that made butterflies dance in my stomach like the ones my Mom used to give. Or like the strong bear hugs Dad would give me that made me wonder if he could crush my ribs.

It was a small hug. Stiff. It didn’t last long. But I knew right then and there that that was the kind of hug a brother would give.

He sat back and ruffled my hair. “You’re some kid, Luke. Best foster brother I’ve had yet.”

I grinned. Nothing that wouldn’t ruin the moment came to my mind. And I didn’t want to ruin anything. This was what I had wanted. For Garrett to be my brother. For someone to take charge and tell me they needed me in some way.

Now I was needed. I was his brother.

The next thing I remember was someone pulling covers over me. I was in my bed. Garrett stood above me, arms crossed as he stared down at the floor.

“Garrett?”

He startled, then nodded. “Yeah?”

“Are they home yet?”

There was a pause.

“Yeah. I snuck back in after they went to bed.”

My eyes drooped sleepily. “How late is it?”

“Uh… two in the morning. Now go to sleep.”

Two in the morning? Latest I’ve ever been up…

He tapped my forehead with two fingers. “Now.”

I was out like a light.