Chapter 51

He takes my hand; the gesture seems insignificant compared to the suffering I hear in his voice. And the child he was makes my heart so heavy I fear it will break.

“And why didn’t that happen?” I whisper, afraid that if I ask too loudly I’ll tear the boy and the man to pieces.

“Because Nick turns out to be a fucking tennis prodigy.”

The words snap through the air like a whip, and I can’t help shuddering at their force.

“But why…?” I start, then stop.

I understand. Because Nick’s career takes off. The golden boy. The young sports phenomenon. And after Carol passes away, Jeremiah isn’t about to jeopardize the cash cow by raising a scandal. Another family. Another son.

So he takes another course. He warns Marcus that if he tells the family secret, he and his mother will starve. And he justifies his absences by the need to keep the money flowing.

He uses and hones his skills as a con man, a gambler, and leaves his blue-collar days behind forever