Abe or The Goldfinch

Chapter 9

Earth-4076361

Amir was sitting in the dining room, when Rebecca approaches him and asks -have you seen Boris? I need to talk to him about something-

He answers -I gave him 20 and told him to intercept Abe at the school exit and go have fun there-

She nods and answers -you better relax, because...- but her husband interrupts her -I know what you're going to ask Boris and I'm not going to allow it-

Rebecca looks at him annoyed and says -I don't know what you think...- but Amir continues -you will ask him to convince Abe to take the medicine-

She visibly annoyed argues -you already made your opinion of the pills clear, but...- Amir seemed to want to interrupt her, but she continued -...Abe needs them, and he is the only one who is able to convince him to do "whatever" these days-

Amir answers -we have delayed it long enough... it is time to look for another place for Boris to stay-

Rebecca slams her hands on the table and screams - NOW? Now that we need him the most? The nightmares keep getting worse, if he didn't sneak into bed every night Abe wouldn't sleep at all-

To which he asks - And you think that's normal? - Rebecca answers - Of course not, that's exactly why we need to convince him to take the damn pills before...-

But Amir interrupts her - I mean their... relationship- Rebecca pinches her nose and answers - I can't believe you really want to bring that up-

He continues - they spend almost all their time together or alone in their rooms, and it's a constant thing, sometimes it seems like they don't even need to talk to communicate, now everything Abe cooks is centered on what Boris wants or on things Abe wants him to try or... -

Rebecca, fed up, screams - WOULD WE EVEN BE HAVING THIS CONVERSATION IF HE WASN'T A BOY? -

Her husband takes a deep breath, trying to moderate his anger and answers - I don't know, I'd like to say no, but that would be hypocrisy and self-deception and I haven't sunk that low yet... but we can't go on like this, we can't keep pretending we don't smell what we smell when he walks by us... –

She seems to want to protest, but she can't find the words, so he continues - keep pretending that the money we bribed him with doesn't end up where it does -

Rebecca seems to have finally found something to say, but Amir stops her - keep pretending that she doesn't hide a mysterious package behind her bed with "who knows what" inside -

With tears in her eyes she asks - and what do you want us to do? - Amir answers - there are places much more capable of helping him than us... I'll make some calls and... –

She asks -if it bothers you so much, why don't you just leave again and already?- he answers -don't you dare make me the bad guy, I won't leave, one thing was to separate for personal reasons, but there is no human force that can keep me away from here in this situation, if you want me to sleep on the couch from now on it's fine with me-

Rebecca doesn't say anything and just sits bitterly in the chair, so Amir next to her, takes a deep breath and continues -please understand... we're about to reduce ourselves to just two more names on that HUGE list of adults who have taken advantage of that child-

That was what finally made his wife break down and start to cry, she just asked -and what about Abe?-

Amir replied -the holidays have already started, they will have a lot of time to be together... and who knows, with some luck, maybe they will enter the same high school-

She can only nod, at that moment Amir's phone rings and he says dismayed -it's from Abe's school- he answers the phone and continues -yes, it's me... WHAT?-

.

Originally I thought that this chapter would continue longer, but I think it's better this way, to be able to give each event its due importance.

The sad truth is that Boris is, after all, just another abused child who has been taken advantage of in every possible way, now it's time to see how low the Solomon-Odeh are willing to go for their son.

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