Page 51 of The Cat's Mausy

“A good friend?”

Issac nodded again, his eyes shimmering in the dim light of the car garage.

“But it wasn’t him that you saw in that alley with your parents,” Felinus said, well aware that they weren’t playing the game anymore as Issac shook his head wordlessly, lips a white line in the dark. “Did you see that man tonight?”

Another head shake.

Felinus raised his hand to Issac’s cheek as the first tear rolled free. “Why didn’t you tell me that your dad and O’Hare were friends?”

Issac swallowed. “Because I don’t really know anything,” he whispered. “If you had asked me before I turned ten, I would have told you my dad had two best friends. O’Hare and the man who would kill him. But… clearly, I was wrong about the second one. How can I really know what is the truth?”

Felinus pulled Issac closer to him, careful not to press on the bruises hidden with makeup that blended better than yesterday’s hasty application. “You were a child, Issac,” he reminded him softly. “Children think everyone are their friends.”

Issac shook his head. “I didn’t,” he said softly, looking down. “I never had any friends. Most kids stayed away from me even before they- before I went into foster care. After that, the only kids that ever approached were ones looking to start trouble either for me or with me.”

Felinus frowned. “Birthday parties?”

Issac shrugged. “Held at the park with other Clovers. Some of them had kids but no one was close enough to my age to really be my friend. Either I was the tag-a-long or they were. I spent more time with adults than kids.” He blinked and two tears splashed against Felinus’s suit. “Do you think O’Hare was fooled?”

“…No,” Felinus whispered. “I don’t. Actually, I think he very much hoped you would say you were Lukas’s son.”

“I got that impression, too,” Issac said swallowing hard. “If I had sought him out… He has to know what happened to them, right?”

Now Felinus didn’t answer. He had wondered that himself as he watched O’Hare try to approach Issac before dinner, only to lose track of him in the crowd each time. There hadn’t been any anger in O’Hare’s frustration for each failure; if anything, Felinus had only seen a deepening sadness every time O’Hare lost sight of Issac and a desperation each time he spotted him again. Something wasn’t right. “I don’t know, baby boy,” he said softly, wiping Issac’s eyes with his thumbs and drawing him closer. “But I’m going to figure it all out for you.”

Issac stared down at him, eyelashes and lips both wet, then pressed in to kiss him deeply.

---