Chapter 2
The biggest drawback to staying in the basement was not being able to hear what was going on upstairs. Ronnie’s mom was too small to make the floorboards creak, and his father had always possessed the gift of stealth, so the best Ronnie could do was watch the clock and rely on his father’s stickler schedule.
Four days after Jim stopped by to visit, he stood at the top of the basement stairs with one hand on the knob and his forehead resting against the door. Beads of perspiration dripped down the sides of his face. Climbing the stairs wasn’t impossible, but he’d had a rough night, the pain waking him over and over again when it didn’t leak into his dreams and turn them into nightmares. By all rights, he should stay in bed, read, and let Mom wait on him, but he’d vowed to himsel
