The last time I spent the night was the Saturday before I left for college. My mother had begun to get weepy whenever she saw me, sniffling into a tissue and babbling about losing her “baby boy.” Please, I was eighteen, and the college I’d be attending was only a two hour drive away but to hear her tell it, I was practically taking classes on the moon. I couldn’t begin to imagine what she’d be like the day I left. So when Mikey called to see if maybe I wanted to come on over, just for pizza and a movie, I couldn’t pack an overnight bag fast enough.
When I got there, I walked my bike into the open maw of their garage and left it propped beside Mikey’s in the corner. The garage was cluttered with stuff I always associated with men like Mr. Pierce—tools littered workbenches, hammers and scre
