Barclay, Linwood Novel 08 - Never saw it coming

“This is like trash from a restaurant.”
    “No, it’s from here,” he insisted. “The li’l—the kid, he had a pizza party with some of his friends. They made a hell of a mess. I think they had some fish sticks, too, which is why I mentioned fish, why I wanted to get it out of the house.”
    Keisha could just guess who Wedmore would want to talk to next: Matthew. She’d want to ask him when his pizza party had been. How many friends had he had over? What were their names?
    Just when you thought things were turning a corner.
    She went back into the house and rapped lightly on Matthew’s bedroom door before she opened it.
    He was sitting on his bed, playing with a handheld video game, and made a point of not looking at his mother as she came into the room.
    “I’m sorry, honey,” Keisha said. “I’m sorry I yelled at you.”
    “I didn’t do
anything
,” he said.
    “I know that. It’s just, things have been a little tense around here today.”
    “Why’s the police lady here?” It had finally occurred to him to ask.
    “A man died,” Keisha said.
    “What man?”
    “No one we know, sweetheart. But he had one of my business cards in his pocket, somehow, so the lady was asking me if I knew him.”
    “What happened to the man? Was he in an accident or was he shot or something?”
    Keisha felt more tired now than she had felt all day. “He was . . . stabbed.”
    “So she’s trying to find out who stabbed him?”
    Keisha sat on the edge of the bed and rested her hand on her son’s knee. “Yes, that’s what she’s trying to do.”
    “So there’s like a crazy person running around stabbing people?” he asked, but more excited than fearful.
    “No, not a crazy person,” Keisha said. “It may even be that this man who died was the bad person, and that whoever stabbed him had a reason. Like, to protect herself.” She paused, and added, “Or himself.”
    “Oh, yeah, like, self-defense.” Matthew watched his share of crime shows.
    “Could be,” Keisha said. “Let me ask you something.”
    Matthew put aside his video game. “What?”
    “Winters here are pretty cold and miserable. How would you feel about maybe spending some time in California?”
    “You mean, like, in San Francisco? With your cousin?”
    “I haven’t asked her about it, but yeah, that was kind of what I was thinking.”
    “When would we go?”
    Keisha touched the side of his head gently. “I was thinking it would be a trip just for you. You being ten, and all, you’re getting to be a young man. It’d be a chance for you to fly all by yourself.”
    He shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t think I want to go by myself. Except maybe for a weekend or something.”
    Keisha thought, how about five to ten years?
    “I’m not exactly Caroline’s favorite cousin in the world, but she loves you, and would be very happy to see you. She’d probably be even happier if I stayed here.”
    “Why doesn’t she like you?” Matthew asked.
    Keisha smiled sadly. “I think she likes me okay. She’s just disappointed in me. Sometimes I’m a little disappointed in me too.”
    “I’m not disappointed in you,” Matthew said. “But I hate Kirk.”
    Keisha nodded. “Yeah, I get that. Listen, we can talk about that later, but right now, I need you to scoot. Why don’t you go hang out with Brendan?”
    “I guess. Why do I have to go?”
    “I may have to talk to the police lady again, and I don’t think she likes to talk about police business in front of kids.”
    “Oh.”
    “And I want you to go out the back way.”
    “Why?”
    “She’s out front right now, talking to Kirk, and I don’t think she’d want you interrupting them.”
    “Is Kirk in trouble?” the boy asked hopefully.
    “I—I don’t think so.”
    Matthew frowned. “I was hoping maybe he was the stabber, that they’d take him away.”
    “Oh, baby.”
    “Is he always going to live with us?’
    “Matthew, I don’t even know what’s going to happen an hour from now.”
    “Do you love him?” Matthew asked.
    “Love Kirk?”
    He nodded.
    “I thought I did, when I first met him, when he was different. But no, not any more. Why?”
    “I was worried you loved him more than me.”
    “What?” she said, wrapping her arms around the boy and squeezing. “How could you even ask such a thing?” She could feel him shrug, trapped in her embrace. “No, come on, I want an answer.” She released him, put a finger under his chin and propped his head