The Childkeeper by Sol Stein

Author:Sol Stein [Stein, Sol]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Thriller
Publisher: Untreed Reads
Published: 2015-03-15T00:00:00+00:00

7

REGINA CAME UP behind Roger as he was slapping aftershave on his cheeks.

“I want that Greco and his junk out of this place.”

“Let it pass till Sunday. They’re all leaving then. Talk to Jeb afterward. If he sees how you feel, he won’t invite Greco back.”

“He’ll do as he wants. That kid is not in our control.”

“Roger, it’s we who have to stay in control. Sixteen is a difficult age.”

“You’ve said that at every age he’s been. My best champagne, pffft!”

Regina watched him in the mirror. “I’m sorry about the champagne, but agonizing about it won’t make it come back. Let’s not spoil today because of what happened yesterday.” She put her hands on the muscles be tween his neck and shoulders and kneaded them gently. “Hurt?”

“No.”

“It’s our weekend off, too. You always enjoy a drive. Please let’s go.”

“We can’t leave the little ones in the house with that bunch. They torture each other, not just squirrels.”

“Oh, Roger, you’re getting paranoid.”

He turned to face her.

“I’m sorry,” she said quickly. “When Nancy and Bernice wake up, all they’ll have energy for is commiserating over their first hangovers together.”

“Kids that age drinking!”

“Didn’t you ever do anything like that when you were nine?”

“Drink? Never.”

“I wasn’t perfect. I’m sure you weren’t. Are you coming?”

“I remember…”

“Remember what?” asked Regina.

“When kids tried to emulate their parents.”

“Oh, I’m not so sure we’re always models of perfect behavior.”

“I don’t get falling down drunk.”

She remembered when he had and the children had all seen. “I don’t think they’re ready for A.A. just yet. Let them sleep it off. They depend on the kindness of strangers.”

“Parents are not strangers.”

“Are you so sure?”

Roger was no longer sure.

“I’m going,” she said. “I do hope you’re coming along, sir.”

*

Roger wished the Buick he was guiding down the gravel driveway were a convertible. With a windy day in the offing, it’d be nice on a country road, like being in a power boat on the Hudson opened up all the way.

The car windows open, accelerating when the road was clear, he knew the pleasure the kids talked about when they said they wanted wheels. More like wings. Jeb talked of wandering in Europe for a year after high school. This new generation just gets up and goes. He envied them their mobility, their sexual ease, their seeming carelessness.

Regina glanced at the side of Roger’s face tensed over the wheel.

“What are you thinking?” she asked.

“Guess.”

“It’s great to be away from the house.”

“No.”

“It’s good getting away from the kids.”

“No.”

“Tell me.”

“One of my reckless fantasies.”

“Maybe I’d better not hear.”

“If the front axle broke right now and I lost control, we’d hit that stone wall and—” he glanced at her—“the kids would have one hundred seventy thousand dollars of insurance, take over the house, have their friends in for a permanent party.”

“Why don’t we wait a while on that?”

Roger smiled. “Actually, I was thinking about a power boat. As a change. As a thing to get out of the house to.”

“We’ve had the expense of the new house…”

“It was just an idea.

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