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like yours.” We stop at a crosswalk. The light turns green, but Jack is studying my guitar case. “Gordie, have you thought about keeping your bass locked up? I mean, it’s worth a lot of money, and Chase has his bail hearing next week. What if he does come home?”
    Man, I wish he hadn’t brought that up. Not at that moment when I was feeling so good. But then, he doesn’t know I installed a lock on my closet door months ago. That’s where I keep my guitars. That’s where I keep anything that can be sold for a few bucks. Jack doesn’t know this because I’ve never told him. It’s embarrassing to have to keep stuff locked up in your own house. “I’ll look after it,” I say.

THREE
    Monday after school, the smell of a roast cooking and the warm scent of something freshly baked, brings me into the kitchen to see what’s prompted Mom to cook after all these months.
    â€œHi, Gordie,” she says, waving a spatula toward the cookies cooling on the counter. “Have a cookie. I have news. Your brother’s coming home in a few days. He made bail.”
    I hesitate to take the cookie. It’s not the news that I’m having trouble adjusting to, it’s Mom being so cheerful. Dad is also in a lighter mood when he arrives home from work, although he is not as jubilant as Mom, so I suspect he is more cautious about the decision than she is.
    As it turns out, once he’s through detox, Chase will be coming home to live with us until his case goes to court. The judge at his bail hearing imposed a number of restrictions: He has to attend counseling, he has to abide by a curfew and he has to stay away from hisdruggie friends. I know it’s this last one that makes Dad nervous. Things would never be where they are now if he’d had any control over Chase before.
    At supper the talk between my parents turns to the practical side: how they are going to come up with the money. Fifty thousand dollars is what they need to bring Chase home. I nearly choke. Apparently bail has been set high because Chase is at high-risk for taking off.
    They have no savings left; it’s been spent on lawyer’s fees and by Chase at various times when he stole their bank and credit cards. And then there were the times they’d bailed him out of drug debts so high he was threatened by dealers. They couldn’t afford it, but they also couldn’t let him get hurt.
    The meaning of money has definitely changed for them. Two years ago it was a major decision to buy a five-hundred-dollar television set, and now they are talking fifty thousand dollars, and for what?
    I really did wish they’d discuss their finances in private like they used to, before it required so much attention that it spilled over to when I was around. It’s not a really comforting feeling knowing that your parents are totally broke.
    â€œWell, there is also the S2000,” Dad muses as he pushes the potatoes around on his plate.
    I look up from my own plate in horror. Dad purposely avoids my gaze.
    â€œCharlie Anderson has been wanting to buy it for some time. It would cut down on what we’d have to borrow against the house.”
    I know their finances are not my business, but since they insist on discussing them in front of me, there are some things I can’t leave unprotested. “But you promised I could use it once I got my graduated license. I have that now.”
    â€œLook, Gordie, I’ll buy another sports car someday. And when I do, you can help me pick it out. I’m really sorry, buddy. It’s just that we could really use the money right now.”
    Mom is shaking her head. “It won’t be necessary to sell the car. We’ll take out a loan and return the money when this is all over.”
    â€œNo.” Dad’s tone is abrupt. “Look, I’m borrowing as little money as possible. I don’t want to be on the hook for fifty thousand