Solstice (31 page)

“Why not, Lucia? You and I both know Piper would benefit from some time away from you.”

I guess this means my father is aware of my mom’s desire to control me. But I have to admit, the thought of getting away, of getting to know my father a little bit better, is like new flowers planted in a garden. Like tendrils of the life I want to lead are breaking into my world, trying to lay down roots. And I plan to give them as much room as they need.

“Well, for starters, Peter, what would your wife say about that?”

My face freezes at the question. Whether it’s the fact that my father now has a name or that he is married I’m not sure. But of course I’m eighteen years old. Why wouldn’t he have a wife? And there could be other kids in the mix. Half brothers and sisters I’ve never met.

“My wife, if you must know, will tolerate it.” He waves his hand, and a waitress sees it. He holds up his beer bottle, and she turns to get him another one. “She’ll obey whatever I ask when it comes right down to it.”

Obey seems such a strange word. But I think of the way my mom relented with the barbeque sauce. Did my mom stop obeying him? Is that why they split up? “How did you two meet?” I take a sip of my iced tea after I ask, wondering if either of them will bother answering. And then I watch their faces.

My mom sneers, and I’m sure she’ll start in on some story of how she was horribly wronged by this awful man here at the table with us. But after meeting him, I know in my heart this cannot be the truth.

At the question, however, my father’s face softens. “Your mother is quite a charmer, Piper. Did you know that?”

I shake my head and look at her. The sneer falls from her face, and she actually blushes. “No. I had no idea,” I say.
Charmer
and
mother
are two words I never would have put in the same sentence.

But my dad nods. “Yes. I fell in love with her the moment I saw her.”

My mom laughs, but it’s not the snide laugh which up until now has permeated the conversation. “You fall in love with everyone you see.”

My father angles his head. “Not untrue. I do admit it. I have an eye for beautiful creatures. But of them, your mom rose to the top. If I weren’t already previously engaged, I may have married her on the spot. Instead, the day we met, I took the one moment of bliss I could and left it at that.”

The truth hits me. My mom and dad were never married. And beyond that, I was nothing more than the result of a one night stand. My mom. The woman who acts like Earth will implode if I so much as utter the name of a boy at school. She slept with my father the moment she met him and ended up pregnant.

I turn to her and wait. Wondering what she’ll say. Wondering if she’ll deny it. Or defend her actions. Or anything. But my old mom returns, and she deflects the conversation. “Piper will not be staying with you. You’re a bad influence, and besides, she and I have been talking about moving anyway. Having her out and about will not do at all.”

My father raises an eyebrow. “Lucia—”

She interrupts. “I’m serious about this. I don’t think you want me to be more clear, do you?”

My father shrugs. “Would things be any worse than they are now?”

I have no clue what he’s talking about. But I’m not about to interrupt.

My mom nods. “Yes. Things will be worse. Of that you can be sure.”

The waitress comes over, holding another beer. My father takes it, but, at the same time, my mom stands up. “Piper, we’re leaving.”

I look to my father. His grin has come back, and he lifts the beer in a “cheers” sign. “Darling daughter. It’s been a true joy meeting you.”

I don’t want to stand up. To leave. But my mom’s eyes are on me. “Will I see you again?” I ask.

“Absolutely.” He stands and turns to my mom. “A kiss for old time’s sake?”

She scoffs. “Please.” But her face is flushed; even I can see it.

“You’re still just as beautiful as you were so long ago, darling Lucia.” My father reaches out and cups her chin with his fingers. Something inside me stirs as I remember Shayne doing the same thing to me. And then my father leans over and kisses my mom full on the lips. Her body freezes, but her lips relent, and she kisses him back with everything she has. It’s a part of my mom I never would have believed existed. But here it is, right in the middle of Pok-e-Jo’s Barbeque. And more than ever, at this moment in time, I want to travel back to Hell. To be with Shayne forever. To live a life of love and happiness I’ve never known before. And I wonder if my mom doesn’t crave something similar.

T
eaching is pointless on Friday. The teachers give it a try, but all anyone wants to talk about is the hurricane and Councilman Rendon dying. I look for Chloe at lunch, and when she doesn’t show, I text her.

“will u b in stdy hall?” I send.

Her response is short. Too short. “have plans”

“what plans?”

“crazy. ttyl”

I’m not sure what she’s referring to when she says
crazy
: her plans, the world, or herself. I send her a quick response and head to class.

When I walk into Social Sciences, my heart flips over in place a few times. Shayne’s sitting there, waiting for me. He moves his arm off the chair next to him so I can sit down.

“Don’t the teachers wonder why you’re here so little?” In the last couple weeks, he’s been in class all of three days. I’d wonder where he was if I didn’t already know. But even still, being in Hell doesn’t explain why he can’t make it to class. Especially if he really does want to see me.

Shayne looks at Mr. Kaiser. He’s just uncapping his dry erase marker—purple this time—and the smell drifts through the air.

“Being a god does have its powers, Piper. The teachers hardly notice me. Remember, they think I’ve been here all year?”

I smile, and in a moment of utter insanity, I lean over and kiss him lightly on the mouth. He tastes like a rustic campfire mixed with something so intense it pulls at every part of my insides.

“I like that,” he says when I pull my head back.

“I like that you like that,” I say. And this time he leans forward and kisses me.

Mr. Kaiser clears his throat and starts class. It’s not like Randy and Hannah weren’t always making out before class. But now, with Randy gone, that won’t happen again.

“So what are your powers?” I whisper.

Shayne laughs and keeps his head close to me. “Like being near you for starters.”

I fix him with a look that tells him he’s full of crap. “I hardly call that a power,” I say.

A smile plays on his lips. “What would you call a power?”

“Hmmm…” I put my finger to my mouth pretending I’m in deep thought. “Maybe breaking down brick walls. Or climbing up the sides of buildings.”

“I’m a god, not a superhero,” Shayne says.

I hear Mr. Kaiser clear his throat again. With Randy Conner dead, the class has been drained of all comedic relief, and Shayne’s laugh stands out like a wart.

“Would you like to share what’s so funny, Piper?” Mr. Kaiser says.

I look around and realize the whole class is staring at me. Now why hadn’t he asked Shayne to explain the joke? I shrug. “We were valuing the powers of superheroes.” I glance sideways at Shayne and see he’s twirling his stylus on his hand.

Mr. Kaiser raises an eyebrow and then turns and writes the word
SUPERHERO
in large purple letters on the board behind him. He caps the marker and turns back around. “So what power would you want if you were a superhero?” He’s not asking me, but the whole class in general.

“How about flying?” someone suggests.

Mr. Kaiser turns and writes
flying
on the board. “What else?”

“Invisibility—cause then I could sneak into the girls’ locker room,” someone else says.

It’s a stereotypical male answer, and it garnishes a stereotypical female reaction of eye rolling, name calling, and laughter. But Mr. Kaiser writes i
nvisibility
on the board nonetheless.

Most of the answers are funny, even expected, such as my climbing buildings or breaking down walls. There’s an enormous sense of release descending on our Social Sciences class, and I look over at Shayne and grin. He reaches out across the aisle, takes my hand, and squeezes it.

The white board is just about full when Mr. Kaiser says, “How about one more thing?”

“I’d like to bring people back from the dead.”

It’s Hannah, Randy’s girlfriend. I still remember her face at the funeral—frozen into a state of repressed sorrow.

Silence falls on the class faster than a flash flood in a dry creek bed. I have no idea what to say, and I’m pretty sure no one else does either. Shayne’s still holding my hand, but lets it go and turns around to face her.

“Why?”

It’s a simple question but an unexpected one all the same. I can’t believe he’s asked it.

“Why what?” Hannah’s staring at him, and I know their eyes are locked.

“Why would you want to bring someone back?”

Hannah lets out a gasp of exasperation, and, for a second, I think she’s going to get up and come punch Shayne. The silence in the class is so solid, I can hear the mercury in the thermometer rising.

Hannah breaks the silence. “I think that’s pretty obvious.”

But Shayne keeps at it. “What if Randy is at peace? Why would you want to bring him back?”

Hannah jumps to her feet. “How could he be at peace? He’s left his family here with that monster of a father. He’s left me here.” She glares at Shayne, and I think she’s trying to evaporate him with her eyes. “Did you know I’m pregnant?”

When she says it, I realize my heart is pounding in my chest, and I’ve forgotten to breathe. I don’t want to move. Don’t want to draw any attention to myself.

“Yes.” Shayne’s so calm it’s like a violent contradiction to the rage and sadness pouring off her.

I’m staring at Hannah, watching her face. It’s red, but her eyes are dry—just like at the funeral. And she’s carrying Randy Conner’s baby.

“Yes what?” she demands.

“Yes, I knew.” And whether Hannah, Mr. Kaiser, or anyone else in the class believes Shayne, I do. “But why would you want to bring him back?”

I can’t believe he’s pressing her. I almost open my mouth at this point and tell him to stop, but my mouth feels pinned shut.

Hannah doesn’t speak. Her mouth’s opening, but nothing’s coming out.

“What if you knew he was happy? Why would you bring him back here?”

Hannah stands there looking at Shayne. Her eyes grow lighter, and soon tears pour down her face. They flow like the River Acheron, full of sorrow, and I know this is the first time she’s cried since Randy died. Her hands move to her stomach as she cries, and I think about the baby. It’ll grow up without a father. Just like me. But its father will be dead, unlike mine. And its father will not abuse it like Randy’s.

“Because I miss him.” Hannah manages to get the words out between her tears, and within moments, someone gets up and helps her out of the room.

I’m staring at the place where she was, watching the door swing closed. And when I look at Shayne, he’s staring forward, twirling the stylus on his hand. I want to say something to him, but he’s not looking at me, and if he knows I’m trying to get his attention, he’s ignoring me. So I turn forward and see Mr. Kaiser erasing the white board. With the purple dry erase marker, he writes
GHC: WHAT YOU CAN DO
at the top of the board, underlines it three times, and we get on with lecture.

S
hayne waits for me after school. I think he’s left, but when I get to my locker at the end of the day, he’s there holding it open already.

“I don’t know if you helped Hannah or made things worse.” I’ve been going over it in my head since class let out. On the one hand, Hannah finally released her sorrow. On the other hand, she did it in front of the entire class.

“I think I helped.”

My mind’s been telling me the same thing, but I want to hear Shayne say it. “You’re always so sure of yourself,” I say.

Shayne gives a small shrug like he’s trying to not act cocky. “Not always.”