Page 151 of State of Retribution

“Absolutely.Talk to me.”

“Mike and I have noticed he’s been very withdrawn lately, spending more time in his room and less time with us.He wants to be with his friends every day after school, but doesn’t want me to know what they’re doing, which of course doesn’t fly with me.”

“I should hope not.What do you know about the friends?”

“Not much.Most of them are new since he started middle school.He’s more or less dropped most of his friends from elementary school.I talked to the mom of one of his old friends the other day.She said her son misses Ethan and isn’t sure why they aren’t friends anymore.”

“Hmm.What does Mike say?”

“He thinks it’s normal.Puberty is setting in, and boys tend to go silent during the teenage years.”

Sam’s first thought was that Scotty hadn’t done that, but then again, he wasn’t your average teen.He hadn’t had a family for years before he joined theirs and was forever telling them how grateful he was.

“Mike asked him to go to a Caps game last week, which is something they used to do all the time.”

“I remember that.”

“Ethan said he didn’t feel like going.”

“I know you guys were talking about getting him a cell phone and debating whether it was too soon.What did you end up doing?”

“He has a phone for texts and calls.There’s no internet or social media on it.”

“Are you sure about that?Kids have ways around parental controls.”

“They do?For real?”

“Yeah.I can have someone here check it for you if you want.They’d know where to look.”

“I’d take you up on that if we could pry it out of his hands long enough.Mike told him he wanted to see what he was doing on it, and Ethan freaked out and told him he has a right to privacy.”

“Not at eleven, he doesn’t.”

“That’s what Mike told him, but he was so upset, we let it go.For now, anyway.But we’re rattled by the changes in him and the way he’s tied to that phone.”

“You could shut it off until he’s older and more responsible.”

“But then I wouldn’t be able to track his locations or call him if he’s away from home with friends.”

“That’s a catch-22.”

“For sure.I don’t know what to do.I don’t want to ignore the red flags or signs that something is going on with him, but if he won’t talk to us, what are we supposed to do?”

“Have you considered family therapy?I could ask my colleague Dr.Trulo for a recommendation.”

“I’d welcome that.It was such a big help after what happened with Brooke, but her therapist specializes in teenage girls.”

“I’ll ask him if he knows of anyone who specializes in younger kids and boys in particular.”

“Thank you, Sam.I appreciate you listening when you have so much other crap going on.”

“I’m never too busy for you and your family.You know that.”

“I do.Thank you again.Before I let you go, I was thinking we should do a little shower for Angela before the baby comes.I think it would mean a lot to have her people around her right now.”

“I totally agree.Text me your thoughts, and we’ll set something up.I’ll put Shelby on it.She’d love it.”

“Yes, she would.I’ll be in touch.”

---