The next morning, Jack wandered through the yard, looking for Fabrizio. His friend worked almost every day in the summer, so Jack knew he would probably find him somewhere outside.
Fabrizio was in a back corner of the yard, digging a hole for a new fence post, when Jack found him. So intent was he on his work that he didn’t notice Jack at first.
"Need any help?" Jack asked, eyeing the section of fence Fabrizio was working to replace. Time, termites, and the combined efforts of Nettie and the neighbor’s dogs had put the once-sturdy fence near collapse.
Fabrizio jumped, a bit startled. When he realized that it was Jack who was watching him and not the recently overcritical and micromanaging Ruth DeWitt-Bukater, he relaxed, grinning.
"Sure." He pointed to the extra equipment leaning against a tree. "There’s extra gloves and another posthole digger there."
They worked in silence for a while, tearing out the old sections of fence and digging holes for the new posts. Fabrizio looked at Jack with concern when he noticed that he was tearing down the old fence with more force than was necessary.
"Is something wrong?" he asked, watching Jack break a rotted piece of wood into splinters, looking like he wished the piece of wood was someone’s head.
"No," Jack replied shortly, then changed his mind. Fabrizio would certainly notice that Jack was no longer living with the DeWitt-Bukaters. "Actually…" He tossed the piece of wood aside and tore away another fence slat, the wood so damaged by termites that it broke away from the nails. "Mrs. DeWitt-Bukater decided that she can’t afford to keep me here, or at least that’s the excuse she made. She can afford to keep you and your mom working here, and she can keep sending her daughters to private school, but she can’t afford to keep the promise Mr. Bukater made to my dad."
He looked at Fabrizio almost resentfully, though he was sure that his friend’s continuing employment had nothing to do with Ruth’s decision to send him away.
Fabrizio stared at Jack, his jaw dropping with shock. He knew that Ruth DeWitt-Bukater wasn’t fond of Jack, but to send him away?
"But…where is she sending you? Back to Chippewa Falls?"
Jack shook his head angrily. "No. Not even to Minnesota. She’s putting me in foster care in Philadelphia."
"Foster care? Is your family that bad?"
"They’re great. Dad got mad at our relatives in Minnesota a few years ago, but I don’t think it had anything to do with me. When I write to my cousin Billy, who lives on the farm in Minnesota, he always writes back right away and wants to know when I’m coming to visit. And my family in Chippewa Falls—they were sorry to see me go when I left last November."
"Then why is Mrs. DeWitt-Bukater putting you in foster care here?"
"She says it’s because it would cost too much and take too long to track down my relatives, even though I have all their addresses. I think she just wants to get back at me for ever coming here in the first place."
"But you didn’t have a choice!"
"Nope…but that doesn’t mean anything to her."
"Does everyone else know…the rest of the kids in the family, I mean?"
"She said it in front of everyone."
"What did they say?"
"Rose got really mad, and when her mom sent her to her room, Rose told her she hated her and slammed the door so hard a picture fell down and broke. The twins agreed with Rose, and then Tom started arguing with his mom and even said a four-letter word to her, which made her really mad. When he left earlier this morning, he told me to watch out for her and be glad I wouldn’t have to live with her after this week."
"She’s getting rid of you that soon?"
"As soon as Social Services can find a place for me."
"She’s a bitch."
"You’re telling me." Jack slammed his posthole digger into the ground viciously. "At least I’ll still be around you and Rose and the other friends I’ve made here, but…fuck. I never asked to come here, and I don’t want to go live with strangers again."
Fabrizio looked thoughtful for a moment. Then a grin split his face.
"What?" Jack looked at him suspiciously.
"You don’t have to go live with strangers. You could come live with my mom and me."
Jack’s face brightened for a moment. Then he sighed. "That would be great, but what does your mom think about that idea?"
"Well…" Fabrizio’s shoulders slumped as he considered the problem. Then he smiled again, an idea occurring to him. "She did say once that we’re like brothers, and she nags you as much as she nags me." He let go of the fencepost he had been setting up, ignoring it as it fell to the ground with a thump. "Let’s go ask her!"
"Fabri…"
"Come on! The worst she can say is no!"
Dropping his tools, Jack ran after his friend, wondering if there was any way Sophia di Rossi could be convinced to take him in.
*****
It didn’t take long for the boys to find Sophia. The roar of the vacuum cleaner in the library as she cleaned up the broken glass led them straight to her.
Jack stayed outside the library, straining to hear what was going on, while Fabrizio went inside to plead with his mother.
Sophia turned off the vacuum cleaner when she saw her son coming into the library, his dirt and grass-covered shoes leaving tracks everywhere he stepped.
"Fabri!" she scolded. "How many times do I have to tell you to wipe your feet before coming inside?"
Fabrizio looked down at his feet sheepishly. Then he looked back up at his mother, a pleading look on his face.
"Mama, I have a great idea."
Sophia was immediately wary. Her son only called her mama when he wanted something—usually something he was sure she wouldn’t give him.
"What is it?"
"Mrs. DeWitt-Bukater decided she can’t afford to keep Jack and is going to put him in foster care. Can he come live with us?"
"She’s putting him in foster care?" Her boss hadn’t shared that bit of information with her.
"Yes, but he doesn’t want to live with strangers. Who knows where he’ll end up? I know some foster kids who get passed from home to home, or wind up with really mean people. We’re not that bad, you know."
Sophia sighed, rubbing her temples. "Fabri, Jack is a good boy, but I don’t think we can take him in."
"Why not? He wouldn’t be any trouble."
Sophia shook her head, looking at her son. "Fabrizio, you begin to remind me of when you were eight years old and begged for a puppy."
"But that was different! Dogs aren’t allowed in our building, but people are. He could share my room."
"And how would I support him? I don’t make that much, you know."
"He could get a job. There’s a new restaurant opening on our block—I think it’s called McDonald’s or something. Besides, I heard that people get money when they take in foster kids—that’s why some mean people do it, just to get the money. And he could go to public school like me—he said he went to public school in Wisconsin, so he’s already used to it. And I’ll be done with high school next June, so then you’d only have him to take care of. And he’s a teenager, not a little kid."
Sophia sat down on the couch, almost smiling at the pleading look on Fabrizio’s face. He looked as though he was about to get down on his hands and knees to beg.
"Fabri, at times like this you remind me so much of your father."
"Uh…is that a good thing or a bad thing?"
"Well…I never could tell him no, no matter how…outrageous…his plans were."
"So, does that mean Jack can live with us?"
"Yes, he come live with us."
Fabrizio whooped, pulling his mother to her feet and hugging her so tightly she winced. When she had finally disentangled herself from her son’s enthusiastic embrace, Sophia looked at the door, which was slightly ajar.
"Jack, you can come in and stop eavesdropping now."
Slowly, the door opened all the way. Jack came in, looking a little embarrassed at being caught listening.
"Jack, she said yes! You’re going to live with us!" Fabrizio exclaimed, having evidently not caught his mother’s last words.
Jack already knew this, but he cheered anyway. "Woohoo!" He and Fabrizio pounded each other on the back before Jack turned and gave Sophia a quick hug, assuring her, "You won’t regret this, Mrs. di Rossi. I won’t be any trouble."
"You two are already trouble," she complained, pointing to the clumps of dirt and grass their dirty shoes had left on the floor. "Go wipe your feet, then clean up that mess. I’ll talk to Social Services when I’m done here."
The boys were too delighted to be upset by her scolding. "Thanks, Mom!" Fabrizio turned and headed for the door, Jack following him.
"Yeah, thanks, Mrs. di Rossi!"
Sophia listened to their feet pounding on the floor as they headed outside to clean off their shoes, smiling in spite of herself. Despite her worries about being able to support a second child, even if it was only for a couple of years, she was glad to take Jack in. He was a good kid, and it would do her son good to have a brother.
*****
Two days later, everything was arranged. Ruth had looked angry when she learned that her housekeeper was taking Jack in, but hadn’t tried to stop her, instead giving Sophia and Fabrizio time to help Jack pack up his belongings.
Now, it was time for Jack to head for his new home. The last of his belongings were loaded into Sophia’s car, and he was just checking his room at the DeWitt-Bukater home to make sure he hadn’t left anything behind, though he knew Rose would bring it to him if he had.
He turned when he heard someone, finding Rose watching him quietly from the doorway.
"I can’t believe you’re leaving." Rose stepped into the room, which was empty now except for the basic necessities a guest would need.
"Your mom didn’t give me much of a choice."
Rose’s expression turned mutinous. "I can’t believe her! What did you ever do to her? We can live without private school and expensive clothes, but she wouldn’t even consider letting you stay."
Jack shook his head. "You know she never liked me. I don’t know what she has against me, but whatever it is, she never did want me around. Now that your dad is gone, she doesn’t think she has any obligation to me."
"She inherited everything he owned—"
"—including all his debt."
"She should have kept you here! She should have taken Dad’s—Dad’s obligations, too. It’s just not fair."
Jack sighed, going over to her. "Fair or not, I can’t change it, and neither can you. After I lost my family, I asked God over and over again how He could be so unfair, how He could have taken my family away. I never got an answer, but I finally figured out that fair doesn’t matter. Things just are."
"Life may not be fair, but people can be," Rose argued back. "Mom had no right—"
"But she sent me away anyway," Jack interrupted. "It’s not all bad. Fabri and Mrs. di Rossi are great. I could do a lot worse than living with them."
Rose slouched against the wall, ducking her head to hide the tears in her eyes. "I’m going to miss you."
"I’ll miss you, too. I’ll only be a few miles away, though. You can come over anytime you want."
"I know, but…it won’t be the same. You won’t be here anymore. We won’t be able to sit up in the tree and talk whenever we want, and we won’t be able to help each other with our art. At least, not as easily."
At Rose’s words, Jack turned and hurried over to the portfolio he had left sitting on the dresser. "Before I go, I have something for you." He opened the portfolio, removing a carefully detailed drawing. "Here."
Rose took the drawing, her eyes widening as she looked at it. It was a picture of her father as he had looked the night of her debut, when he had proudly watched her coming down the stairs in her gown and jewelry, just before they had left for the debutante ball and only hours before his death.
"I told you he was proud of you," Jack told her quietly, watching as her tears overflowed her eyes and ran down her cheeks.
Rose wiped her eyes with one hand, taking in every detail of the drawing. "Jack, this is perfect. He looks so…so alive, like he could step out of this drawing at any moment and…and be here." She wiped her eyes again, sniffling. "Dammit…I am so tired of crying."
Jack set his portfolio down and gave her a hug. Rose leaned against him, trying to stop crying. "Thank you, Jack," she whispered.
"You know, Rose, you’re never going to forget your dad and what he meant to you. But it will get easier. After a while, you’ll be able to think about him and remember the happy times, and it won’t hurt so much anymore."
"That’s hard to believe," Rose told him, shaking her head.
"But it’s true. I learned that over the past ten months, since I lost my family. Yes, I still miss them, and I still think about them a lot, but it doesn’t hurt as much as it used to."
Rose was silent for a moment. Finally, she looked up at him and said, "I hope you’re right. How I feel right now…it’s the worst thing in the world."
"Jack. Rose." They looked up to see Ruth standing in the doorway, her eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Sophia is waiting for you, Jack. I suggest you not keep her waiting any longer."
Reluctantly, Rose stepped away from Jack. "I’ll walk you out," she told him, picking up his portfolio and handing it to him.
"He can walk himself, Rose," Ruth told her. "You need to go wash your face. It’s red and puffy."
"Mom…"
"Now, Rose."
Rose gave her mother a sullen look before leaving the room and disappearing into her own bedroom, the door slamming behind her.
"Jack, I want you to remember that my sending you to a new home has nothing to do with whether I like you or not."
"It’s a money thing," Jack responded. "Sure. I know." He brushed past her, heading for the stairs. Before he started down, he turned back once and said, "Tell Rose good-bye for me."
Then he was gone. Ruth stood staring after him, a mixture of guilt and relief going through her. She felt worse than she had expected about breaking her husband’s promise, but at least she had succeeded in separating her daughter from the boy.