’M NOT GOING in there. You’re crazy. You’re trying to kill me.”

“I’ve hardly killed anyone this year,” James said. “Come on. I feel like an idiot as it is.”

“’Cuz you are an idiot, man. Go yourself. Leave me out of this, skinny.”

James could feel his teeth turning to dust, he was grinding them so hard. When he’d signed up for Big Brothers Big Sisters, he’d envisioned taking some cute little kid to the movies, shooting hoops, going out for ice cream. Someone around Nicky Mirabelli’s age, for example, or maybe seven or eight. In this scenario, he’d pick up the kid in a poor but respectable neighborhood where the parent(s) would be delighted to see him.

Instead, he’d been greeted by the dead-eyed stare of an enormous man who’d exuded boredom and contempt like a toxic gas.

“Hi. I’m James Cahill from Big Brothers? I’m here for Taymal.”

“That right?”

“Yes, sir. Thank you.”

“Okay. Let’s go, then.” He grabbed a jacket, then stopped. “What? You got a problem?”

So yeah. Taymal was fifteen years old, stood six feet three and had the physique of a Patriots linebacker. He looked as if he could—and might—snap James in half.

Nevertheless, James couldn’t exactly say, “I was looking for someone cuter and less frightening,” so here they were, standing poolside at the Providence YMCA. “Look. I signed us both up,” he said.

“That is not my problem, skinny.”

It was probably a hundred degrees in here, and about a thousand little kids seemed to be having a screaming contest for who could sound the most in peril. James’s skin was crawling, his nerves were like piano wire, and he was trying not to let Taymal see that he was fricking terrified.

While Taymal refused to go in the pool, he had nonetheless let James spend $89 on a pair of swim trunks an hour before, since he didn’t own any. He also asked if James would buy him a $165 pair of Nike sneakers. When James asked if he liked basketball, Taymal gave him a very loud and eloquent lecture on racial stereotyping, then asked if he could get a Kobe Bryant shirt.

“Just try it, Taymal. It’s okay if you don’t know how to swim. We’re here for lessons.”

“Bite me, skinny. I can swim. I don’t want to.”

“Really?”

“Indeed. Why? You think black people can’t swim?”

“No, I didn’t mean that—”

“Hi! Are you James and Taymal? I’m Quinn! I’m your swim instructor!” A very beautiful girl bounced up to them. Red bathing suit, blue eyes, brown, curly hair streaked with the greenish-blond of a swimmer. “Are you guys ready?”

“Oh, baby, I am so ready,” Taymal said, pursing his lips and giving her an appreciative scan.

“Taymal. Stop.” This was a really, really bad idea. “Show some respect, okay?”

“Oh, indeed. Quinn, honey, I respect you, baby—”

“Yeah, you actually will have to stop or I get to drown you,” Quinn said, tapping her clipboard. “It’s part of the rules.”

Taymal rolled his eyes. “Well, I’m not going swimming. Uh-uh. No way.”

“Great,” James said. “Well, let’s stand here for an hour, then, and listen to the children scream.”

“I’ll give you two a minute. How’s that?” Quinn said, bouncing away again.

“What do you wanna swim for, anyway?” Taymal said.

James thought about the answer he’d prepared: really important skill to have, the importance of wholesome hobbies. They could swim here in the winter and go to the beach in the summer—though whether Taymal would tolerate him for even ten more minutes was dubious. He sighed. “We don’t have to. I’ll take you out to eat instead.”

“Now you’re talking.”

James looked at all those little kids in the shallow end of the pool, shrieking and splashing. “I almost drowned when I was a kid. My sister, too. She has brain damage because of it, and I’ve been scared to swim ever since. I thought maybe if I had someone with me, it wouldn’t be so hard. But it still seems hard. See?” He held up his hand, which was shaking.

“Shit, man. That is one sad story. Where do you wanna eat?”

“I don’t know. Chili’s okay?”

“Yeah.”

James turned to go. “Sorry, Quinn,” he called. “We have to cancel.”

“Not a problem,” she answered.

When he got to the door, he found that Taymal wasn’t with him. The kid—the Hulk—was still at the edge of the pool. James sighed and went back.

“You really wanna do this?” Taymal asked, jerking his chin at the water.

“No. I mean, I actually do know how to swim—I just hate it. But if you don’t want to do this, I’ll come back another time without you.”

Taymal gave him a long-suffering look. “Dude, you’re about to piss your pants as it is. You won’t come back. Yo, Quinn! Come on over, beautiful! My man’s ready.”

* * *

WHEN JAMES GOT HOME late that afternoon, he was exhausted, his head was killing him and he was fairly sure there was some nasty-ass pool water lurking in his left lung.

But.

He’d been swimming. Not as rewarding as when Parker had bribed him out to the dock, but he’d done it. Taymal had howled with laughter, shown off his own pretty solid swimming skills and then, at Chili’s, eaten a bacon burger, a full order of baby back ribs and the Triple Dipper platter. Extra fries.

“You want to see me again?” James asked as he pulled up in front of Taymal’s house.

“What, are you my girlfriend now?” the kid asked. “Dude, this is part of my parole, okay?”

James stared him down. Four hours with the kid, and he was starting to catch on.

“Okay, that was a joke,” Taymal said. “Yeah, my mom wants me to have a positive male influence. And that’s you, dude. Pretty sad, if you ask me.”

“Great.”

“I’d rather not have to see your skinny white legs again, though. Next time, maybe we can do something else?”

James smiled. “Sure. You like baseball? We could go see the Sox, maybe?”

“Man, are you kidding? Take me to Yankee Stadium, hook us up in a hotel for the night, that fancy-ass Waldorf Astoria, get us some box seats. We’ll be all set.”

“Maybe we can go down for one game. No hotel, and no box seats, though. I don’t make that much.”

“Too bad. My cousin Louis? His Big Brother took him to the seventh game of the World Series, dude.”

“I will never take you to the World Series. You still want me?”

“‘You still want me?’ Man, you sound like a girl. Later, dude. Call my mother, set something up.”

“Okay.” The kid heaved himself out of the car and sauntered inside.

So, given how it’d begun, the afternoon had been a smashing success, in a horrible sort of way. He could see Taymal growing on him. He could see—maybe someday—overcoming his fear of swimming.

The condo was quiet, as it always was. He should look into selling it, even with the real estate market in the toilet, because his new job wasn’t paying what his old job did, and while he’d paid Beckham Institute in advance for the next four years, that time would be over before he knew it.

Maybe he’d be promoted by then; as it was, he was working entry-level pay and hours, and grateful for it. The firm handled mostly corporate law, a little pro bono on the side. It was nice to work with people again. Actually, it was Stella, his old secretary, who’d gotten him the interview through a lawyer she taught in her jujitsu class. It was a decent firm; one of the senior partners seemed to like him. So four years, sure, he might be on partner track. Could even be married in four years. You never knew.

He went over to the fridge, took out a beer and stared at the photo on the door.

It was a picture of Parker and Nicky, sitting on the dock, taken from behind. The sun shone on Parker’s hair. Her arm was around her boy, her face turned slightly toward him. They’d been fishing, and when a miracle happened and Nicky actually caught something, they’d both yelled for James to come down and unhook the fish. Which he’d been happy to do.

It had been nice to be needed.

Well. Taymal might think he was an idiot, but he was needed there. And he’d been calling home more regularly, talking to his mom. He’d even called Pete and talked to his niece, Morgan, who’d answered the phone. She sounded like a sweet kid.

Funny that three months ago, James hadn’t wanted much more than he had. Now that he’d had more, though, it was harder to be content.

He touched the edge of the picture, then turned.

There was a FedEx envelope on his table with a sticky note on it: “Signed for this today. Barb from 3G.” He’d have to remember to thank her.

The package was from Goldman Sachs. That was odd; maybe he’d been put on their mailing list since almost taking the job. He opened it up to find a note on corporate letterhead, as well as a sealed envelope addressed to him, care of Goldman. No return address. A note said,

This came for you. Took me a while to find your address. Delia Summers, Assistant Director, External Correspondence Department, Goldman Sachs.

No wonder the country’s financial system was in danger. The mail room had become the External Correspondence Department.

James opened the package. Inside was the manuscript for Mickey the Fire Engine.

The last copy, Parker had told him. The refrigerator cycled on, the only sound in the quiet kitchen. James turned the page. The last copy of the book she loved.

Indeed, as Taymal would say.