“Of course,” Lisa said. “And how handsome and brilliant he is. I used that as an argument. How healthy he is, I mean. How good it would be for Miranda’s baby to grow up here.”
“What did she say?” Jon asked.
Lisa rolled her eyes. “It took a lot longer than it should have,” she said. “First Alex objected. He didn’t like the idea of only seeing Miranda and the baby on weekends.”
“You can’t blame him for that,” Jon said. “It’d be great if Alex could move into the garage with them.”
“You know that’s impossible,” Lisa said. “Only domestics can live in Sexton, and I can’t see Alex working as a butler. Not for us, at any rate. He’ll be in White Birch while Miranda stays here. That’s just how it is.”
“Did he agree to it?” Jon asked.
“Eventually,” Lisa said. “Laura was actually the least resistant. She’s not happy with the idea of Miranda working for me, but she understands it would be best for the baby.” She shook her head. “Laura tries so hard to keep that apartment clean, but there are roaches all over. And the air quality is so bad.”
“They can’t buy air purifiers,” Jon pointed out.
“They aren’t forbidden to,” Lisa said. “They could put their names down on the list to buy one, but all they’re interested in is that truck. In any event, it’s no place for a baby, and Laura can see that. Miranda put up the biggest fight. She doesn’t want to leave Alex or Laura, and she wasn’t crazy about the idea of living in a garage. She even said she liked her work in the greenhouses.”
“But you convinced her,” Jon said. Lisa had to. Miranda would be safe working for them, as long as no one knew she was family.
“I can convince anyone of anything if I set my mind to it,” Lisa replied. “I told Miranda the garage was only until you start college. In the meantime she’ll eat better and the baby will be healthier and well taken care of.”
“What if Alex buys his truck?” Jon asked. “Would Miranda keep working here?”
Lisa snorted. “I love Alex,” she said, “but he’s a dreamer. It’ll take years before he and Carlos can afford a truck, and even then they’ll have to get a license to run it and another license to buy diesel, and they don’t have the connections, so they’ll need some extra money to make it happen. It’s going to take at least five years, if it ever happens.”
Five years ago, Jon thought, he’d been living in Pennsylvania with Mom and Miranda and Matt. The sun shone and food was plentiful, and his biggest worry was if he’d ever learn to pull an inside fastball.
Five years from now, maybe Alex would get his truck. Or maybe he and Miranda and the baby would move to that place Matt talked about. Or maybe Miranda would settle in to live as Lisa’s domestic, seeing Alex and Mom once a week. It didn’t matter, just as long as Miranda was safe from Tyler.
“So she agreed?” Jon said.
“She’ll start in about a month,” Lisa said. “We have to get the greenhouse built and the garage ready, and I need to do the paperwork without anybody suspecting why I’ve picked her. Oh, Carlos is coming on Thursday. Laura wants you there on Sunday to meet him.”
“I’ll have to ask Coach,” Jon said.
“Don’t ask him,” Lisa said. “Tell him.”
Jon nodded. He could tell Coach things now. Lisa had passed her evaluation. Jon might be a slip, but Coach, like all the teachers in the high school, was one step up from being a grub.
“I’ll tell him,” he said.
“Good,” Lisa said. “Now go say hello to Gabe. He wants to tell you all about his exciting day in White Birch.”
“I won’t be able to play in Sunday’s game,” Jon told Coach at practice. “I have a family obligation.” He waited for Coach to yell.
“I wasn’t going to play you anyway,” Coach said instead. “You’ve been looking a little tired, Evans. We’ll play you against Hilton on the twenty-eighth. Get you sharp for the White Birch match.”
The rest of the team gathered around. “We’re playing White Birch?” Tyler asked.
“The Fourth of July,” Coach replied. “It’s the match we’ve all been waiting for. What are we going to do to those White Birch grubs?”
“Kill ’em,” Zachary said.
“I can’t hear you,” Coach said.
“Kill ’em!” the boys shouted.
“What’s that you say?” Coach said.
“KILL ’EM!” Jon and his teammates screamed. “KILL ’EM! KILL ’EM! KILL ’EM!”
Jon thought he might burst with excitement. Everyone from Sexton would bus down for the game, and everyone from White Birch would be there as well. Lisa could bring Gabe, and Mom, Miranda, and Alex would finally see him play soccer. Maybe not Alex, since he’d be driving buses. And Miranda might not feel up to it. But Mom would go, the way she used to go to his baseball games. Tyler wouldn’t know who she was, but Jon would sense her presence. And she’d tell Miranda and Alex and Matt how well he played.
For the first time in weeks Jon felt almost all right.
It was an accident. Jon swore to himself he hadn’t intended to. But as he walked from the classroom to the cafeteria, he brushed against Sarah. Just the feel of her arm against him was electric.
“I told you never to touch me!” she shouted.
Luke gave Jon a shove. “You heard her,” he said, putting his arm around Sarah. “Leave her alone, Evans.”
“Sorry,” Jon muttered.
He could tell from the sound of Tyler’s laughter that he’d witnessed the whole thing.
That’s good, Jon told himself. Sarah’s safe now.
But even knowing that didn’t stop him from feeling like he’d been kicked in the gut. Feeling the way he had those last moments with Julie.
It was after midnight, but Jon knew sleep was impossible. The west wind blowing made the air worse, but he couldn’t bear to be indoors. He got up, threw his clothes on, and went outside.
The sky was a sickly gray. It must be a full moon, Jon thought, layered with ash and rain clouds. The wind felt like a punishment as he sat on the cold, hard ground and forced himself to think about Julie.
She was thirteen when he met her. Thirteen when she died. At thirteen her parents were gone, her sister dead, her home, her school, her life destroyed.
It had terrified Alex when Julie coughed. Their sister Bri had coughed and coughed, and died.
But Julie was tough. She wouldn’t have given up. A cough wouldn’t have killed her.
No, Jon had that privilege all to himself. Julie could have survived a cough. It was Jon she couldn’t survive.
He was fourteen, a year older, a year bigger. Much stronger than she was. Julie had been on the road for months before he met her, months where Jon and his family had had shelter and food.
Had he loved her? He’d told himself he had. But maybe that was a lie. Maybe Julie had been convenient, the way grubber girls were convenient. Julie was there, and she was close enough to his age, and Jon was old enough to want what Matt and Syl were having, what Miranda and Alex were having.
Julie hadn’t believed him when he told her about Miranda and Alex. “It’s a sin,” she’d said. “Alex doesn’t sin.”
But Alex was human. He was a teenage boy, and Jon was a teenage boy, and Julie was there. She was convenient.
Except that day was the last one she was going to be there. Dad and Lisa, Gabe, Julie, Alex, Miranda, and Charlie were going to leave the next day to make their way to Sexton. They had no idea what they’d find there. But it was an enclave, and Alex had three passes.