Free Brooklyn Secrets by Triss Stein Page B

of a thousand suns. You know?’
    I did know, but it would have been counterproductive to agree completely.
    â€œI admit, Mrs. Grant is tough, but every teacher there can’t be a hand holder.” I remembered my own overworked public high school teachers. Some of them were dedicated, but some hated the job and hated us. Some barely knew our names.
    â€œMom! That is very unfair. Believe me, the high school teachers are not holding our hands. Unless they are trying to put more work into them.”
    â€œOkay. Sorry. So I’ll tell you about my day.”
    I did, and thanked her for her off-hand comment about asking Savanna’s friends for information. She seemed impressed for five seconds. Then she put her dishes in the dishwasher, heaped up a bowl of ice cream and headed back upstairs, chemistry book in hand. I thought I should get up early tomorrow and make her a real breakfast before the exam.
    Next day, Mike and I met at a fish restaurant. One of the things I did like about Mike was he made me eat like a grown up, sitting down and having a proper meal.
    I gently led into the subject. “I saw the news last night about that poor girl, Savanna Lafayette. I was out there in the neighborhood.” No way was I telling him more than that about my experiences.
    â€œWhy in the world?” I ignored that.
    â€œSo. I know a little something. Maybe it matters and maybe not, and with a probable arrest, I am having trouble seeing what I should do with it.”
    â€œYou need to stop playing detective.” He pointed his fork at me for emphasis.
    â€œWhat? Do you think I am playing?”
    He just gave me one of those get real expressions.
    â€œListen.” I said it calmly. “I was in Brownsville originally for research. And then I met people and I heard things.”
    â€œMmm-hmm.” Was that a skeptical sound or a convinced sound? “So, tell me what you learned and I’ll see if I can give you any advice.” Now he was in cop mode.
    I took a deep breath. “There are those four boys. So theoretically, anyway, the process moves on. Do I have that right? But they’re not arrested yet?”
    He nodded. “Bet they found a bunch of reasons to hold them for awhile. Substances, guns, old issues.”
    â€œDoes that mean anything further I learned is irrelevant now?”
    â€œDepends. How about telling me what it is, instead of tiptoeing around it?”
    â€œA friend of Savanna told me she has a boyfriend. And it is a big, a huge secret. She seemed petrified to be telling me, and was too petrified to tell anyone in her world.”
    He nodded. “Scared it might get out that she told? I get it. The code is to never tell anything to anyone in authority. Never. She didn’t tell you anything more?”
    â€œOnly that Savanna’s mother would be furious - ‘total lockdown’ was what she said and also, that the boy’s people would not like it either.”
    â€œWhat did she meant by that?”
    â€œNo idea.”
    â€œI don’t suppose you’d like to tell me who told you all this?”
    â€œYou’re kidding, right?”
    He smiled. “It was worth a shot.” He thought for a moment. “It looks like they think they’ve cleared the case but I know who’s on it. I could pass the word. Just in case. Would you talk to them?”
    â€œSure. Of course.”
    â€œOkay, Nancy Drew. Enough work talk. I believe there is a piece of Key lime pie with my name on it. Two forks?”
    We moved on to other topics, talked about a movie we had both seen but not together, talked about other news of the day. It was a pleasant break in my routine. Nothing more.
    Whew. Done. Back to work. Back to juggling work, dissertation, parenting. Daughtering. That was more than enough to make me crazy, without adding in a relationship that really was not that meaningful.
    I wasn’t planning to tell Chris, though. I needed to keep