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her hand holding out a distressed paper cup. “Excuse
me,” I apologize to her. The two dollars still in my grasp, I hand
it to her.
    “ Thank you, my child,” she says
with a near-toothless smile. I nod, sidestepping her and heading
back toward the park.
    “ Got it,” I text Jon. “Fifty-three dollars
later.”
    “ You’ve got to be kidding! Most
places will do that for two bucks.”
    “ This key was special. It said not
to duplicate it.”
    “ Most keys say that. And still,
most places will do that for two bucks. I wish you’d have let me
take care of that.”
    “ Well, it’s too late now. And
you’re missing the point. I GOT IT!”
    My phone rings, Jon’s smiling face coming across the
display. I’d taken the picture a few weeks ago when I went with him
to get a hair cut. I answer quickly.
    “ So, we’re on for next
week?”
    “ Definitely.”
    “ Don’t do anything to get in
trouble. And don’t do anything to make them stay home.”
    “ I won’t!”
    “ Fifty-three bucks, huh? Which fund
did that come out of?”
    “ It’s my weekly fun-money. That
means we’re slumming it tonight.”
    “ I’ve got a little extra,” Jon
says. “I’m not missing movie night.”
    “ I’ll just use my check card, don’t
worry about it. It seems dumb for Dad to give me that cash in the
first place. Anyway, I was afraid you’d cancel, today being move-in
day and all.”
    “ Again, I’m not missing a night
with you.” This makes me smile.
    “ What are your roommates
like?”
    “ I’ll tell you about them tonight.
We’re going to go get some stuff for the dorm. See you at
five?”
    “ I’ll be there.”
    My mom hasn’t moved when I return to the loft.
    “ No tea?”
    “ I drank it already. I got it on
the way out.”
    “ How was your walk?”
    “ Good. But I think I’m ready to go
when you are.”
    She frowns a little, and I see her eyes wander
briefly to the spare bedroom. “You don’t want to stay a little
longer?”
    “ No. I can’t,” I tell her. She nods
in understanding and closes her computer, getting up to put it in
her bag.
    “ Let me run to the ladies room,”
she says, heading to the restroom just off the kitchen. She always
makes a stop before we leave the apartment. As I’d planned, I take
the opportunity to return the old key to her keyring.
    On our way out, I tell Mom about the lady in the
park.
    “ Some people just have nothing
better to do than pry and gossip!” she says in the
elevator.
    “ What’s worse, is... who says that
to a kid!?”
    “ Honey,” she says softly, holding
the elevator door open as we make our way into the lobby. “I don’t
think people consider you a kid anymore after this
summer.”
    “ I meant I’m your kid,” I mumble, not wanting to talk about the
media circus I’d lived through over the summer.
    “ Oh. Yes, who would bring that up
with someone’s kid? You’re right. I’m just glad it’s not
true.”
    “ She wanted it to be,” I tell
her.
    “ I hate to disappoint her,” she
laughs. “Jack Holland is all mine. For all the days of our lives,”
she adds the words from her wedding vows dreamily.
    “ Will we still be seeing you on
Saturdays?” Francisco interrupts, nodding apologetically for doing
so. “I know Livvy starts school again on Monday. I wasn’t sure if
the pleasure of your company was just a summer thing...” It’s true
that we’d only been coming here since the beginning of the summer.
I had set up a studio shortly after school let out last year, but
I’d actually only used it to paint twice before the trip to
Europe.
    “ Of course we’ll be back,” Mom says
with a smile. “Have a good week, Francisco.” She squeezes his arm
warmly on our way out. Thanks to the excellent service of our
concierge, a taxi is already waiting for us at the curb. As mom
settles inside, I gesture for her to wait just a second, and I run
back inside to the lobby.
    “ Aren’t you leaving for Argentina
on Friday?” I ask our