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over in pain, massaging his knuckles with his other hand.
Fuck you, Adam Freedman, you stupid fucking pussy.
    ***
    Adam walked through the front door to his house and headed straight up the stairs to his room. He caught a glimpse of his mom in the kitchen, bent down on her hands and knees, scrubbing hard at the bottom of the stove. They had a housecleaner who came once a week, so Mom in crazed-cleaning mode only meant she was upset about something.
    â€œAdam?” she called out. Her voice was weak, anxiously apologetic.
    â€œWhat,” he yelled back. A statement, not a question.
    â€œCould you come here for a minute?”
    Adam rolled his eyes and turned back down the stairs. He was so fucking bored of this routine. Mom nice. Mom freaks. Mom nice.
    His mom was still hunkered down by the stove. She was wearing her nice blouse and skirt—like she’d gotten home from work, walked into the kitchen, was suddenly struck with an undeniable urge to clean, and had immediately fallen to her knees, grabbing a scrub brush on the way down.
    â€œI just wanted to tell you that I’m sorry for last night. I know I shouldn’t—”
    â€œIt’s OK,” said Adam.
    â€œFriends?” she said.
    â€œUh-huh,” said Adam. “I gotta go do homework.” He started to walk away when it occurred to him that since Mom was in making-up mode he should take advantage while he could.
    â€œHey, Mom?” Adam said, turning around.
    His mom poked her head up from underneath the stove. “Yes, honey?”
    â€œI think I might actually want to go visit Casey after all . . .”
    â€œI thought you were going to Tahoe with Brad?”
    â€œI just miss Casey. It’d be cool to see New York.”
    His mom stood up, wiping her hands on the rag hanging from the stove handle.
    â€œYes, I think we can still arrange it—the last week and a half of June?”
    Adam had a flash of the entire summer ahead of him. The gang going to the movies—couples only! The gang going swimming at Lake Anza—couples only! The gang getting high and going to the Laserium in San Francisco—couples only! Adam sitting alone in his room, jerking off for the fiftieth time that day.
    â€œWhat if I went to New York for, like, the whole summer?”
    His mom’s face did a little twitch back.
    â€œYou’re paying for Casey to stay in an apartment. I could live there too . . .”
    â€œFirst of all, we’re
helping
Casey to stay in an apartment; she’ll have a job. And she already has roommates—”
    â€œI’ll get a job! I’ll find something! If Casey says it’s OK, can I just do it? Please?”
    All of a sudden, spending the summer in New York City was the perfect and only solution to every single problem in Adam’s life. He knew, he just knew, that if he could do this, everything would be OK. He had to do this. There was no going back. This was the answer. “Please, Mom? Please?”
    His mom stared at him. She appeared genuinely impressed by his desperation.
    â€œOK, well, we’ll have to discuss it with Casey and see if she even has room . . . Though I do think that as your sister she should make room. And I’ll also expect you to make some money—this will not be some paid vacation for you.”
    â€œOf course! I know! I’ll call Casey right now, OK? And you think it will be OK with Dad?”
    Adam’s mom sighed. “Oh, we both know it doesn’t really matter what he thinks. I’ll convince him.” And she smiled.
    Adam grinned back.

Chapter 3
    IT WAS SETTLED . Casey was spending the summer living with friends in an apartment in Brooklyn, and Adam was going to live with them. The apartment was in the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn. “Actually, it’s Bushwick,” Casey had told Adam on the phone. “But Mom read about Williamsburg in some fashion magazine, so she thinks