Page 45 of Dark Endures

“Just like I don’t hit children. I don’t make them give up their children. Or do anything they don’t want to do. Cora wanted to keep her children.”

Everett walks over to the wall of pythons and sits down, staring at them. After a long minute, he asks, “Did you send me there to teach me about unprotected sex?”

I join him, bringing Petunia with me. “Didn’t you tell me that I didn’t need to give you the birds and bees talk? That you knew how things work? Why would I waste my time telling you something you already knew?”

Petunia slides down my arm and onto his.

Everett freezes for a long second and then reaches out to touch her. “I don’t understand. Computers are easy. They’re math… logical. Nothing about this makes sense.”

“Life doesn’t always make sense.” That was a painful lesson to learn.

“But lessons should. You didn’t give me a lesson that doesn’t make sense, did you?” Petunia wraps herself around his arm, resting her head in his palm.

“They will eventually.”

“I don’t know what question to ask.”

“Maybe you’re asking the wrong person questions?”

“Do you always talk in riddles? Because it would be much easier if you just told me what I’m supposed to be learning.”

“The easy path isn’t always the best one.” I slide Petunia off my arm and stand up. “Take all the time you need to think.”

Everett sits there a long time, stroking Petunia and staring off into space.

Day 7

Everett knocks on the wall, staying a step back from the open door.

“Come on in Everett.” I wait for him to start walking before I ask. “Did you figure out what you were supposed to learn, or do you need more time?”

He stops. “I can stay there longer?”

“Yes. You can take all the time you need. Do you need more time?”

“No. I don’t think so. But I’m not sure I learned what you wanted me to.”

But you learned something. “Let’s start with what you learned.”

Everett sinks down onto the chair across from my desk. “I learned that kids aren’t easy to raise.”

“Is that all? I’m pretty sure you learned that on day one.”

He half smiles for a moment. “But I also learned that leaving your kids at daycare is even harder.”

“It is, sometimes.”

“Yeah, the parents that just brought their kids for a few hours seemed happier leaving them. The others… it took strength to walk away. Why did they have to? Especially Cora. You guys have enough money to take care of her and the babies so that she didn’t have to leave them. Why did you make her leave them?”

“There’s that word again. I will remind you, we don’t make anyone do anything here. Cora chose to put her kids in daycare.”

“Why? Why would she do that?”

“You’re asking the wrong person the questions. I’m not going to discuss Cora’s choices with you or the reasons she would make them. But you’re a smart kid. Why would you do it if you were her?”

Everett goes silent. “To go to school and get a job so that I could take care of them without ending up in a dead-end job or relying on others to fund my life.” He jumps up. “That’s what you wanted to teach me. That’s what you wanted to teach me all along. Not about safe sex, but about choices, respect, and responsibility.”

And the boy learned something.

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