helped me get my flat, and I moved
out. The flat was only ten minutes
away from the house, so I was
always around to drop in to help
with errands or have dinner once in
a while. But, most important,
whatever was going on with Abel, I
didn’t have to be involved.
At some point my mom moved
to a separate bedroom in the house,
and from then on they were
married in name only, not even
cohabitating but coexisting. That
state of affairs lasted a year, maybe
two. Andrew had turned nine, and
in my world I was counting down
until he turned eighteen, thinking