Altarboy novel · Chapter 20 of 24

Chapter 20: Wigilia

Kaz did not answer him.

He set the gray tub on the tailgate, lifted out the gold-rimmed plate, and turned it over.

There was masking tape on the back, and on the tape, in the round blue handwriting, a few lines.

He read them out loud, because the whole street was waiting.

"For the empty place at our table."

"This year it is for our baby, who is two months old and has already taken over the house."

"Love, Mama. Christmas 2004."

Nobody on the curb breathed.

"She set a place for me before I could sit up," Kaz said. "That's how much she wanted me."

Gene opened his mouth.

Nothing came out of it.

Behind him, the oldest widow said, in her clear classroom voice, "Gene. Go home."

He went.

On the twenty-third of December, the parish hall kitchen smelled of onions, butter and hot flour.

Six widows sat around a long steel table in aprons, pinching pierogi into half-moons with their thumbs.

Kaz stood at the end with a rolling pin.

He had been rolling dough since seven that morning.

His forearms ached, and he was white to the elbows, and he had never been so happy in his life.

"Thinner," said the oldest widow.

"It's thin."

"Thinner, dear. You should be able to read a newspaper through it."

"Who reads newspapers?"

"Nobody," she said. "That's the problem."

The kitchen laughed.

← Chapter 19 · All chapters · Chapter 21 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend