“I have a feeling you’re about to tell me.”
“You actually listen.”
I paused.
“Jake, I hope you have people your own age you can talk to.”
“I do.”
“Good.”
“But it’s different with you.”
I set the knife down.
“What do you mean?”
He hesitated.
“When I talk to my friends, everybody’s trying to look like they have everything under control. With you, I don’t feel like I have to pretend.”
I felt a small ache in my chest.
“That’s because nobody has everything under control. Some of us are just better at pretending.”
He looked at me.
“Is that what you do?”
The question was so direct that I almost laughed.
“Sometimes.”
“Even with Uncle Tom?”
I turned toward him.
“Especially with the people we love, sometimes.”
He studied my face, as though he wanted to ask something else.
Instead, he picked up the knife.
“Okay. I’ll finish the vegetables.”
