169
I tried to gauge Lily’s reaction but couldn’t. Gabrielle came running up and hip- checked Bryce. “Dude, back off,” Gabrielle said. “Give the girl some space.”
“What’s your problem, Gabby?” asked Bryce. “I was just saying hey to New Girl.”
“Lily, come with me,” Gabby said. She grabbed Lily’s hand and dragged her away. “I want to introduce you around.” Then she yelled over her shoulder to Bryce, “To some less obnoxious people.”
Lily ran off with Gabby. I would have followed to make sure she was okay, but Bryce’s leering gaze held my rapt attention. He crushed his empty can and chucked it on the ground under the garbage bag.
“She dresses weird,” Bryce said.
“Oh, she’s definitely weird,” Jack said.
“But cute, right?” asked Bryce.
Jack didn’t respond.
“Yeah,” said Bryce, “definitely cute. Who’d she come here with?”
Jack folded his arms over his chest and leaned closer, digging the point of his elbow into his buddy’s chest. “I invited her. If she’s here with anyone, she’s here with me.”
Without warning, electricity shot from my head down my arms, sending a white flash across the water. The people on shore all jumped. “Was that lightning?” someone asked. “It’s not supposed to rain,” said a boy. “Better not,” said a third. “I won’t get another weekend night off until Memorial Day.”
A dead fish floated by my outreached hand. “You think she’s with you?” I muttered, picking up the fish. I chucked it at Jack and hit him square between the eyes. “You have no idea who’s here with you.”
170
“What the hell was that?” Jack yelled.
The dog sniffed along the ground, trailing the mangled fish. When she found her target, she gave it a few good sniffs before sneezing and sitting down on Jack’s foot.
“Get outta here, you dumb dog.” Jack picked up a stick and tossed it far out in the water. The dog trotted toward the lake, then waded into the darkness. She paddled out forty feet to retrieve it, swimming back with her prize held reverently above the waterline.
She dropped the stick at Jack’s feet and shook all the water out of her coat.
“Gah. Get outta here.” Jack threw the stick out even farther. It was an impressive throw, and it landed within inches of my hand. If I hadn’t known better, I would have said he was aiming for me.
The dog paddled out again. As she got closer, I could detect her white muzzle and tired expression. How well I knew the frustration of her instinctual compulsion. Her nose dropped lower and lower in the water as her thoughts flashed like the images of an old slide show: rabbit . . . food dish . . . someone running their fingers down the groove in her skull . . . and then . . . fatigue . . . PANIC.
Don’t turn around, ol’ girl. Come to me. I’ll help you.
The dog whined and paddled closer.
That’s it. A little bit farther.
I put my hand under her belly— feeling every rib— and held her up. I delivered her onto the shore, several yards north of the party.
Hiding again, I wished I hadn’t left my clothes back at the car. Lurking in the bushes was getting old— not to mention humiliating. Why didn’t I just stick with legs and crash the party like any other self- respecting person?
171
I didn’t answer the hundreds of questions that scrambled my brain. Perhaps it was because my head was all messed up, maybe it was because I was listening to the yellow Lab’s low, warning growl, but at first I didn’t notice the girl climbing into the fishing boat, or the dark figure shoving it off the sand onto the lake. My eyes searched the party for Lily as a thin thread of piney- citrus floated along the rippling waters.
“Have fun,” said a voice I recognized as Gabrielle’s.
The boat lurched as the darker figure threw one leg over the stern and climbed into the hull. By the silhouette I could tell it was male. The wind off the lake blew his sweatshirt hood off his head, and he took another step, rocking the boat. The girl shrieked, then laughed at herself, saying, “Gabby talked me into this. Do not make me regret it.”
“Lily,” I whispered.
The boy, still standing in the boat, pulled the starter cord once, twice, until the engine roared to life. He cranked the throttle, and the bow lifted out of the water. Lily faced the center of the boat. She leaned forward, bracing herself on the sides until the engine abruptly killed— just a hundred feet from shore— and she lurched backward.
“Jack, you’re a terrible driver,” she yelled at the other figure. It was worse than I thought. What was she doing with him out here? There was no light on the bow. I looked around, hoping not to see any other craft. A collision was more than I needed right now. Jack stood up and staggered to the center seat. The boat rocked dangerously, disrupting the water.
“You’re drunk. What are you doing?” Lily’s voice was panicked.
172
“What am
I
doing? What are
you
doing?” he asked, teasing. “You’re going to sink us.”
“No, I’m not.” He moved closer, sitting on the edge of the
center seat. “It’s nice, isn’t it? Getting away from the crowd? I mean, they’re okay, I guess, but I couldn’t wait to get alone with you.”
“I thought we were going for a ride,” Lily said. “Yeah, we will. But I wanted to talk to you first.” The words slurred as Jack spoke. “It’s not something I can say with just anyone listening. Believe me, I’ve tried.”
“Talk about
what
?”
“About
them.
” He laughed nervously. “At first I thought maybe you were one, too. That day you moved in. I could smell them all over your house. Spicy. Like smoke and incense.”
He let out a short, hard laugh. “Back when you fell in the lake and you were talking all that crap about dolphins, I actually thought it was some cover story. But then it didn’t make sense.” He sighed. Disappointed. “You’re not one of them. You’ve just been
near
them. A lot.”
Lily leaned away from him. “You’re the one not making sense.”
“It’s okay,” he said. “You don’t have to pretend for me. I’ve been near one of them, too. Very near.”
“Near one of
what
?”
He smirked. “Quit it. You know what I’m talking about. That thing you called a dolphin.” He laughed again and then lowered his voice.
“Mermaids.”
“Mermaids?” asked Lily. “You thought
I
was a mermaid?” Lily smiled, but from the distance I was at, I couldn’t tell if she was flattered or amused. “Mermaids smell like incense?”
173
He nodded and inched closer to her, pulling his knees up to hers. “There’s one that came to visit me last summer. Every week. We had a special meeting spot on some flat rocks just south of here.”
“Had?”
“I haven’t seen her since last fall. But I could smell her on you.” He leaned forward hopefully. “I thought maybe you’d seen her? She was supposed to come back for me.”
From my hiding spot, I spun in a circle and threw my arms in the air.
“Damn it!”
I swore. So this was what Maris meant? Pavati didn’t have dibs on Jack Pettit as prey; he was one of her toys. How come I hadn’t seen that before? Maris and Pavati were getting very good at hiding their thoughts.
“Wait. You’re telling me I wasn’t hallucinating?” asked Lily. “What I saw? Your painting— that was her? My dolphin was the mermaid in your painting?”
Jack wasn’t listening. “For the longest time I wished I was one of those people the old fisherman told me about. The ones that don’t even know they’re manitous . . . or mermaids, or whatever. Just walking around like normal. . . . I thought maybe that’s why she came to me. Maybe she knew something I didn’t. I tested it out a few times, but nothing happened. I can’t even hold my breath for more than seventeen seconds.”
Jack pressed his nose against Lily’s skin, in the corner where her neck met her shoulder. He inhaled deeply and groaned. “God, you smell good. Just like her.”
He put a hand behind Lily’s neck. Under any other circumstances it would have been a romantic scene, but it was every horror movie I’d ever heard about. Lily flexed her wrist,
174
and her palm came up flat and rigid against his chest. When it was clear it wasn’t just me who wanted to keep Jack Pettit away, I took off for the boat, keeping my eyes above water.
Jack grabbed the ends of Lily’s scarf and pulled her hard against him. The boat lurched. Lily screamed as Jack mashed his mouth on hers. She pushed him off and slapped him across the face.
Jack sucked in his breath as if she’d doused him in ice water, and he hit her back— hard. Lily fell over the seat. A vein bulged down the center of Jack’s forehead as he pulled Lily back toward him and grabbed her face with both hands.
“Bring me to her,” he said. “Tell her I want to see her. Tell her I can’t stand it anymore.”
Lily cried out, and then her voice was silenced.
Maybe it was because of the darkness, or maybe it was because his eyes were closed, but Jack Pettit never saw the arm come up out of the lake. My arm. My fingers clawing the air, eager for his throat. I grabbed him by the neck and pulled him over the side of the boat so fast he was gone before Lily’s eyes popped open.
I almost had Jack pinned to the bottom when I remembered Lily. I rose to the surface, just enough to propel the boat back to shore, and felt the tip of my tail break the surface. Cold night air flashed against my fin.
Lily gasped.
Damn it.
What had she seen? As I decided my next move, Jack thrashed and churned the water. He regained the surface and screamed, taking in a mouthful. I gripped him by the back of the neck and drove him back down, pinning him to the sand. I rubbed his face in the grit, then let him up.
175
“Jack! Jack!” kids yelled from shore. Someone jumped into the lake and pulled Lily and the boat in. I was going to have to remember to thank that guy. I brought Jack down one more time for good measure— just to make sure he’d learned his lesson— and then I was gone.
We’d see who was crazy now.
176
23
POETRY READING
W hen I got to work the next day, Mrs. Boyd greeted me as she mopped the floor behind the counter. The morning would be even slower than normal with our few “regulars” at church.
“Isn’t Lily working today?” I asked.
“She’ll be in by ten,” said Mrs. Boyd. She put away the mop and went to her office, closing the door behind her.
I busied myself with the
New York Times
crossword, watching the clock and getting about twenty words filled in before Lily walked through the door. A faint, finger- shaped bruise followed the line of her cheekbone.
177
She pinched her lips together and put both hands on her hips. “What are you laughing at?”
“Who’s laughing?” At the sight of the bruise, I wished I’d finished off Jack Pettit when I had the chance. “I’m just surprised you’re working today.”
She folded her arms over her chest. “Why do you say that?”
“Long day in the sun and fresh air, then big night last night.” I shrugged, trying to keep things light. I walked behind the counter and tied a blue apron around my waist.
She followed me. “What makes you think I had a big night?”
I turned, and she was right there. Inches from me. I ducked around her and walked to the back to get a few pounds of decaf Colombian. “Didn’t you go to the Pettits’ party?”
“I did.” Her voice was still right behind my ear.
“That’s all. That’s all I meant.” I returned to the front, cut open the bag, and refilled the bin under the espresso machine. The rich smell of coffee billowed up into my face.
“I thought maybe I’d see you there last night,” she said.
“I wasn’t invited,” I reminded her. I touched my finger to her nose as I slid by her again. “And besides, I told you I had plans.”
She chewed on her bottom lip, apparently contemplating what to say. “I thought maybe you’d ditch your plans because you’d want to be there with me.”
I shuffled my feet and looked for something to clean.
“Was I wrong?” she asked.
“No,” I said with a sigh. I gave up and leaned against the wall. My chin dropped to my chest. “I would have liked to have been there with you.”
178
“For a second I thought, maybe, I
did
see you there?”
I looked up. “Nope. Probably just the smoke playing tricks on your eyes.”
She grinned and nodded as if a different question had been answered. Mrs. Boyd came out of her office, locked the door, and headed out the back without another word to either of us. I watched her go, and when I turned back, Lily wrinkled her nose at me. “Y’know, you’ve been wearing those same clothes for the last three days. Don’t you have anything else?”
“Not all of us have the
luxury
of lace and velvet,
Miss Hancock.
” The words came out more biting than I intended, but I was happy my lack of laundering was masking any other scent she might have been searching for.
She hung her head. “Sorry. I didn’t mean anything. Really.” A long silence stretched out between us. Then she said, “If you’re interested, I hung out with Gabby most of the night. Jack went to bed early. He had a little boat accident.”
“People should be more careful out on the water.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Do
I
need to be careful on the water?”
I crossed my arms over my chest and faced her dead on. “What are we talking about, Lily?”
“I’m talking about maybe my grandpa wasn’t crazy after all. Jack doesn’t think so.”
I didn’t respond.
“Hey, I’m talking to you,” she said, punching my shoulder with the heel of her hand.
I rolled my eyes. “What do you want me to say, Lily? That I think you’re right? Well, I don’t. You want to know what I think? I think you’re spending too much time with Gabrielle Pettit. And while we’re on the subject, I don’t think much of her brother, either. You want to talk about monsters? Jack is
179
an ass and a half, and if he touches you again he’s going to lose a few fingers.”
“How do you know he touched me?” She reached out for me, and I stepped backward. My hair bristled on the back of my neck. My eyes flashed to her bruised cheek. “I don’t. I just think you could find better people to spend your time with.”
“People?” she asked, her eyebrows rising. “People like you?” “Sure. People like me. Why not?”
Lily flipped her backpack onto the black marble counter,