“Do you think Irena will kill her?” Chloe whispers to Sid.
“Nah. Irena respects people who don't suck up to her. I never do, and she loves me.”
Chloe snorts. “She loves you because you told her once she was the most beautiful girl in the world and you wanted to marry her. And yeah, I know, you were only five. But she's never forgotten. Wonder what she'll make of Wain. She wants you all to come for dinner soon. Roast beef, Yorkshire pudding. Trifle. The whole deal. It's like she thinks your grandmother's the Queen or something.”
Your grandmother
. It sounds so oddâas if he has suddenly acquired a third arm or a second head. Useful, but difficult to accommodate. He barely knows Megan's or Caleb's parents. Megan's mom died a long time ago and her dad married a woman Megan loathes. Caleb's parents still live in Newfoundland, where their “real” grandchildren are. Now Sid's “real” grandmother is sitting on the porch sipping tea.
Chloe picks up an old leather ottoman and heads back outside. “Hurry up with that tea, my good man. Spit spot.” She giggles. “I feel like Mary Poppins. But cuter, don't you think?” She bats her eyes at Sid, who says, “I couldn't really say, m'lady.”
“I brought my bike,” Chloe says. “And my bathing suit. In case you want to go to the lake.” Elizabeth and Irena have gone for a walk to see Irena's garden. No one else is around and lunch is hours away. If it was a normal day, Sid would help Megan around the houseâwater the garden, sweep the floor, scrub the bathroom, sort the laundry. But today doesn't feel like a normal day and all he can think of is the way the rocks by the lake heat up in the afternoon and how the lake water tastes like dead leaves, but in a good way. He wants to get away from Wainâat least for a few hours. Even Chloe's chatter seems soothing compared to Wain's mood swings. He knocks on the War Room door and Megan calls, “Come in.”
He sticks his head into the room and says, “Me and Chloe are heading to the lake. We'll be back after lunch, okay? We're taking some food. Oh, and Irena has taken Elizabeth to see her garden.”
“You got a bike I can ride?” Wain's voice rises up from the couch, where he has been invisible to Sid.
“A bike?”
“Yeah, so I can go the lake.”
“You want to come to the lake.”
“That's what I said.” Wain sits up and Sid can see that his face is puffy. A pile of crumpled Kleenex lies on the floor by the couch. “I'm a good swimmer,” Wain adds. “Faster than you, I bet.”
“Is everything a competition with you?” Sid says, aware that an edge has crept into his voice.
“You can ride my bike,” Megan says. “Caleb's will be too big for you.”
“Is it pink?”
Megan laughs. “No, it's a regular old gray mountain bike. Not too embarrassing. Did you bring some shorts?” Wain nods, and she says, “Go get changed then. I'll pack you a lunch. Peanut-butter sandwich okay?” Wain nods again and leaves the room. Megan gets up and comes around the desk to Sid. “He's so lonely, Sid. And afraid. He needs to stay busy, keep his mind off his problems.”
Me too, he wants to say, but Megan looks so worried he just shrugs and says, “Fine. But if he drowns, don't blame me. I'm not a lifeguard.”
“Noted,” Megan says. “Burgers for dinner? Chloe's welcome to stay.”
“I'll ask her,” Sid says. “And yeah, burgers would be good.”
Wain rides ahead of Sid and Chloe all the way to the lake, calling back to them for directions. Sid is tempted to yell left when he should yell right, but he remembers the worry on Megan's face and sends Wain the right way. When Sid and Chloe get to the lake, Wain is already churning across to the far shore, his arms a blur. He is a powerful swimmer, even with his ribs taped.
Chloe squints into the sun. “Is he doing the butterfly?”
Sid shrugs and takes off his shirt. He swims well, but not particularly fast, and he has never mastered the butterfly. Not that he's wanted to. It seems so unnecessarily labor-intensive and show-offy. He wades slowly into the lake. Ankles, shins, thighs, crotchâpauseâhips, waist, chest, neck, head. Before he gets fully submerged, Chloe races into the water with a
whoop
, diving as she runs and surfacing beside him to spit water in his face.
“Race you,” she says.
He groans. “Not you too. Go and race Wain. I'm not into it today.”
“Loser,” Chloe says, spewing another mouthful of lake water at him.
He splashes her with the heel of his hand and she screeches and takes off across the lake. She does a pretty decent crawl, Sid thinks, but she'll never catch Wain.
He floats on his back, watching an eagleâmaybe it's Ericâswoop into a cedar. He can hear splashing from the other side of the lake. Maybe Chloe has caught up with Wain. Maybe they'll leave him alone for a while. He does a lazy sidestroke toward an islet covered with gorse and scrubby trees, planning a circumnavigation.
When he is about halfway around the islet, a shriek pierces the silence. Chloe, her voice garbled, as if her mouth is full of water.
Sid flips over and does his best Australian crawl as fast as he can toward Chloe's voice. In the moments when his head is out of the water, he can hear Wain yelling, “Chloe! I didn't mean to!”
Sid is close enough now to see that Chloe is swimming toward him, flailing at the water like an out-of-control eggbeater. Wain is doing a slow breaststroke behind her, groaning as he swims.
When Chloe reaches Sid, she grabs his arm and treads water. It takes a minute for him to realize that she is topless, and that Wain is holding her bikini top in his right hand.
“Give me that,” Chloe yells. “And turn aroundâboth of you.”
Wain tosses her the scrap of fabric and she swims to the beach while the boys tread water, their backs to her as she pulls on her clothes. When she says it's okay, they swim to shore, and Wain staggers up the beach behind Sid, sputtering, “I didn't do anythingâ¦I didn't mean to⦔ The tape that was wrapping his ribs has slid down around his hips, like a wet diaper.
Chloe turns on him. Her hair is plastered to her face and she is shivering, but her fists are clenched, her body tensed as she leans toward him.
“Get away from me, you little perv,” she yells.
Wain steps back and turns to Sid. “She's nuts, man. I didn't do anything. Her top came off⦔
“Because you pulled it off, jerkwad. And then you had a good look,” Chloe says. “You're lucky all I did was kick you in the balls.”
“It was an accident,” Wain says. “The bow just came undone.”
“Shut up, Wain,” Sid says. “And get lost. I mean it. Good luck finding your way home.”
“I didn't hurt her, man.”
“Shut up,” Sid says again. Chloe is shaking now, her teeth chattering. Wain grabs Megan's bike and rides away, swearing as his crotch makes contact with the seat.
Sid sits on a rock and pulls Chloe down beside him. He rubs her back in small circles and she leans against him, her muscles gradually relaxing, her eyes closing.
Sid puts his arm around her and she nestles into his chest. He hopes she can't feel how fast his heart is beating.
They sit in silence for a long time before she speaks.
“That kid is super fucked up.”
“I know,” Sid says. “Believe me, I know.”
“I should have drowned him.”
“Probably not your best choice.”
Chloe shrugs. “It's not that big a deal anyway. It's not like he touched me or anything. And I hurt him pretty bad. Don't tell anyone, okay?”
“What if he tries again?”
“He won't,” Chloe says. “I'm gonna tell him that if he ever does anything like that again, I'll cut off his dick. Okay?”
“Okay,” Sid says. “You're the boss.”
“Anyway, he's your brother, Sid,” Chloe says. “I don't want to get him in trouble.”
“Half brother,” Sid says as they climb on their bikes and head for home. “Only a half brother. And he's already in trouble.”
“Y
ou coming in?” Sid asks when they stop at the end of his driveway.
Chloe shakes her head. “I don't want to see that little shit anytime soon. Besides, I need a shower. My hair's a disaster. Maybe I should cut it all off or put it in cornrows, like Fariza's. What do you think?” She pulls a strand of hair in front of her face and examines it closely, going a bit cross-eyed. “The ends are, like, totally split.”
“I'm sorry,” Sid says.
“For my split ends? Not sure how that can be your fault.” She tucks her hair back behind her ears and smiles at Sid. Her lips are a bit cracked and the skin on her shoulders is peelingânot enough sunscreenâbut otherwise she looks fine. Happy, even. As if nothing had happened. As if being naked in front of two teenage boys isn't worth a second thought. He hopes that isn't true.
“No, for what happened at the lake,” he says.
“Not your fault,” Chloe says. “And I handled it.”
“I should haveâ” Sid starts.
“Should have what? Defended my honor?” Chloe makes air quotes around the words. Sid nods.
“Something like that,” he mumbles.
Chloe grins and sticks her tongue out at him. “What makes you think I've got any honor left to defend?”
Sid blushes and says, “I'm sorry” again as Chloe hops on her bike and rides off toward her house.
He walks his bike down the driveway, trying to put off the moment when he will have to confront Wain. When he gets to the house, he sees Megan's bike on its side in the rose bed beside the front steps. A single pink rose lies in the dirt next to the handlebars, broken off by the bicycle's fall. Megan doesn't look kindly on damage to her flowersâso few survive the local deer. Sid puts both bikes away, brushes the dirt off the rose and goes inside to put it in some water.
The house is quiet. A note on the table says,
Gone to
the store with F for ice cream. Pls pick some rasps for shortcake
and some toms. XO M. PS What happened at the lake?
Sid crumples up the note, throws it in the garbage and goes to take a shower. The door to Wain's room is shut. Wain can stay in his room for the rest of his visit, as far as Sid is concerned.
When Megan and Fariza get back from the store, Sid is in the garden, picking raspberries. Fariza joins him, solemnly peering into the lower branches and plucking berries that have escaped Sid's gaze. Soon they have more than enough for the shortcake.
“Did you have fun today, Fariza?” he asks as they turn to go back to the house.
Fariza nods and points at him. Her fingernails are the soft pink of the tiny shells he used to collect on the beach when he was small. Chloe must have painted them.
“Me? Not so much,” he says. “Chloe and Wain had a fight.”
Fariza frowns. The tiny furrow between her eyebrows looks like two small exclamation points. He reaches out to rub it away and Fariza pulls back slightly. It's her first instinctâto pull away from contactâand Sid still has no idea why.
Her mouth opens and closes a few times before she takes a deep breath and says, “Fighting is bad.”
It takes all Sid's willpower not to pick her up and hug her, but he knows it's too soon. Instead, he says, “You're right. Fighting is bad. But sometimes people fight. It'll be okay.”
Fariza clenches her small hands into fists. “It's not okay.”
Sid waits for her to say more, and when she doesn't, he starts walking back to the house. He has only taken a few steps when Fariza comes up beside him and places her hand in his. “Don't tell anyone,” she says.
“Not even Megan?” he asks.
“Not even Megan,” she says as they climb the back stairs.
Why all the secrets? Sid wonders as he slices ripe tomatoes and washes lettuce from the garden. First Chloe and now Fariza. Is it a girl thing? He can understandâsort ofâwhy Chloe doesn't want anyone to know about what happened at the lake. But Fariza? Why would she want to hide the fact that she's talking again? He sighs and checks the barbecue. Almost ready. Caleb comes outside with a plate of burger patties. Megan sets down a tray of drinksâlemonade, iced tea, water, beerâand plastic glasses. Fariza follows with a basket of buns. Elizabeth carries out a steaming bowl of corn-on-the cob, while Wain lurks in a corner of the porch, listening to his iPod.
“Chloe not joining us?” Caleb asks when the burgers are done and everyone is seated.
“I don't think so,” Sid says. “She's obsessing about her hair.”
“What's wrong with her hair?”
“Beats me,” Sid says. “You know what girls are like.”
“That I do,” Caleb says. “My sister Jo used to iron her hair and then check for split ends with a magnifying glass. And now look at her.”
Sid laughs. His Aunt Jo had moved to Hawaii years ago to run scuba charters. She's the least feminine woman he's ever seen. Also the strongest. Megan turns and looks at him, one eyebrow raised, her lips pursed. He knows that look. The look says,
You can't fool me. I know something
is wrong, and I wish you'd talk to me, but I'm not going
to pry
. He meets her gaze and shrugs slightly. He feels a bit bloated, as if the secrets he is carrying are expanding in his gut. Or maybe he's just hungry.
Dinner is awkward. Wain's manners haven't improved and Elizabeth is obviously embarrassed.
“Elbows, dear,” she murmurs. And, “You have a napkin.”
Wain ignores her, bolting his burger and getting up from the table before anyone else has finished, leaving his dirty dishes behind. He refuses to even look at Sid. Fariza, who is clearly puzzled by the ear of corn on her plate, glances up at Wain as he leaves the table and goes inside. She taps Sid's arm and points at Wain's plate, where a crumpled napkin sits in a blob of ketchup. She frowns, and shakes her finger at the dirty dishes, as if they are naughty children. Her corn remains untouched. It occurs to Sid that maybe she has never eaten corn on the cob before.