Every time he moved it under the covers, he almost screamed out loud. But he couldn’t do that because then his mother would…do what? Take him to the doctor? Nobody in Tyler was supposed to leave their houses. But if she knew about his foot… Gross, greenish-yellow stuff was oozing out of the foot. And under the covers, it smelled really bad. He pinched his arm hard to keep himself from crying. Sometimes that was the only thing that helped. He had to stay home and get down to the basement and give Susie food and water and a sleeping pill. He had to. “Allen? Are you awake, sweetie?” She stood in the doorway in her robe, her hair all mussed up, her eyes red and swollen. So she’d been fighting on the phone with his dad. Probably Allen’s father hadn’t come home again last night because of the quarantine. “I’m awake.” “What shall we do today? Would you like to help me make chocolate chip cookies?
