Chapter 6The room had this disinfectant smell. It was the first thing Jimmy noticed when he woke up. He looked around, taking in the neat pine dresser, the polished hardwood floors, the pine twin bed he lay in, and the heap of clothes on the ladderback chair next to the bed.
Sunlight, dulled by clouds, filtered in through white vinyl miniblinds. The room was sterile, almost too clean. It looked scrubbed, antiseptic. He felt groggy, knowing that the priest had brought him here the night before. He remembered being carried up the stairs, little else.
A garbage truck outside, kids’ voices. What was this? School holiday? Was it almost Christmas? Jimmy leaned back against the starched crispness of his pillowcase and closed his eyes.
When the door opened an hour or so later, Jimmy jerked awak
