“Why’s she here,” Amber said.
“Jenn and I used to be married,” Jesse said. “She’s come to help me with you.”
“Why do you need help with me?” Amber said.
“Because you’re a fourteen-year-old girl and there needs to be a woman here, too,” Jesse said.
“Oh, man, are you drab.”
“Drab,” Jesse said.
“Who cares about who stays with who. Man, try being free, you know? Jesus.”
“Jenn is a television reporter,” Jesse said. “She’s doing this in hopes of a story.”
“Story about what,” Amber said.
“About you,” Jenn said. “And your parents. And the Horn Street Boys. And maybe the Crown estates project…like that.”
“What the hell kind of story is that?” Amber said.
“We’ll see,” Jenn said. “I had some vacation time coming and the station gave me a couple weeks to see if there was a story.”
“So am I gonna be on TV?” Amber said.
“We’ll see,” Jenn said.
“I don’t want to go to my father,” Amber said.
“Okay,” Jesse said.
“And I don’t want to go back to Esteban, the lying fuck.”
“Okay there, too,” Jesse said. “I’ve been talking to a friend who’s a lawyer, and she’s going to put me in touch with specialists in child custody and placement.”
“Child custody? I’m not in fucking child custody,” Amber said.
“Officer Molly Crane will be with you and Jenn much of the day,” Jesse said to Amber. “I will be with you most of the rest of the time. Occasionally, one of the other cops may fill in. There will always be a police officer with you.”
“So my old man won’t get me,” she said. “Or Esteban.”
“Or anyone else,” Jesse said.
“What about Crow?” Amber said.
“What about him?”
“Is he gonna be around?”
“Crow pretty much does what he wants to,” Jesse said. “If I see him, I’ll ask him.”
“So what am I supposed to do all day while you’re all watching me?”
“What would you like to do?” Jesse said.
“I don’t know.”
“There’s a start,” Jesse said. “How about taking a shower?”
