His 47 Seconds of Silence Cost Him Everything novel · Chapter 12 of 24

Chapter 12: The Real Test

"Get in," I said. "Back seat. Your feet must be freezing."

He climbed in behind Jen.

Jen handed him the bag of jerky over her shoulder without a word.

He took a piece and didn't eat it.

I turned around in my seat so I could see him.

The dome light was on. His freckles stood out on his face.

"Okay," I said. "Tell me."

He held the jerky in both hands.

"That Saturday," he said. "The fundraiser. It was Mom's week."

"I know."

"I got up early because I couldn't find my cup. My catcher's cup. I thought maybe it was in the hall bathroom." He went red. "Sorry."

"It's okay. Keep going."

"The door was locked. Mom was in there. She was crying." He picked at the jerky. "Like, really crying. Not the video kind."

"There's a video kind?"

He gave me a look that was much older than twelve.

"Ren. There's a video kind."

Jen made a small sound in the front seat.

"I waited in the hall," he said. "And she came out with a box in her hand, a pink and white box, and she didn't see me. She went in her room and called someone. And I heard her say Dad's name."

My stomach went cold.

"What did she say?"

He closed his eyes.

"She said, 'It's positive, Cory. It's yours. You have to tell her today or I will.'"

Nobody in the car moved.

"And then like twenty minutes later Dad's car was in the driveway," Callen said. "It was eight o'clock. I looked at my clock. And they were in the kitchen and they were yelling, but like whisper-yelling. And Dad kept saying 'not today, not at the field, not in front of the boys.'"

"And your mom?"

"She said, 'Then when?'" Callen swallowed. "And Dad didn't say anything."

I put my hand over my mouth.

"I found the box in her bathroom trash later," he said. "Under some tissues. It said ninety-nine percent accurate. I looked it up."

"Callen."

"There wasn't any show," he said. He was talking faster now, like it had been stuck in him for weeks and was finally coming out. "There wasn't a Bonus Mom Test. She never said anything about a show. The camera guy comes to everything, he always does. And then at the field she just walked up to you. And Dad didn't say anything again. And when you took your ring off she started laughing, and I knew that laugh, Ren, that's her scared laugh, she does it when she drops stuff."

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