Chapter 2

The woman’s arms were suddenly around him. The warm press of her body and the smell of hair cracked his facade. The brave, adventurous man with a fast car, a road atlas, and a destination reverted to the boy, crying on the shoulder of the only person he knew loved him. Maybe there had been a time when his mother hugged him, or his father had, but CJ only remembered Mimi holding him that way.

“Nothings wrong, I’m fine,” CJ said.

“Coulda fooled me,” Mimi said. “Come in. We’ll talk.”

Inside, CJ looked at the couch he had spent so many hours on. They rented movies, watched TV, and most of all, they listened to music together. Mimi had Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Beatles, Deep Purple, and so many more groups that CJ loved. She made him cassettes to play on his Sony Walkman. Headphones on, hiding in his closet, music had always been his fast car.