they were talking about the boy’s arithmetic homework

Long For This World by Jonathan Weiner

8 min @ Manic Coffee

The boy sat on the Chesterfield, hands in fists rested politely on his lap.  As she listened Mary looked over Carl’s shoulder, she was not sure if the boy was blinking.  He rarely spoke but his blinks were a sort of Morse code.  What did Carl just say about the psychotherapist?  She must be careful, the slightest misstep and she was in danger of losing the boy.  The slightest misstep.  Another loss.  Her sister’s son.  She could not afford another loss.  A chill feathered through the fine hairs at her nape.  She looked at the boy again, his unblinking eyes boring into her.