Collins, he met Jimmy Parsons. Before Jimmy Parsons, it had never occurred to Whit to envy a boy for having a father. He’d envied Ronald Crispin, whose father had left town with another woman when Ronald was three. And Joey Rogers, because his father was serving time for selling drugs. But to envy someone because his father had stuck around was unfamiliar territory. That Jimmy’s father came to the table for dinner seemed unimaginable to Whit—that he came sober and agreeable was nothing short of miraculous. When Jimmy reported a poor grade on a test, Mr. Parsons chewed on the news quietly, then moved briskly to a different subject. When Whit joined Jimmy after school, Whit was stunned to see that it was possible for a boy to come inside and confess to a quiet day. That a boy could mount the front steps with visions of what he might do with the rest of his afternoon, not burdened with the panicked fabrication of adventures suited to gangsters, not twelve-year-old boys.
