“Congratulations,” Jason said. He had to tilt his head to the left to say it.
“Thank you.”
“My dad’s come,” Jason said. “We’re flying out later today. I wanted to say good-bye.” Sadness whispered through Nick’s veins. He left Manon and Arlette and walked to the boy, put his arm around Jason’s shoulders.
“I’ll miss you,” he said. It was the truth, strange though that seemed. Jason looked up, and desperate hope blazed across his face. “Can I come see you later?” he asked. “I’d like to come for a visit.”
“I don’t know where we’ll be living,” Nick said. “We may not have room.” His words faltered at the look on Jason’s face, at the blighted dreams and despair… “We’ll try,” Nick said. “If we can arrange it, we’ll try to bring you out.”
Over Jason’s shoulder, Nick saw Manon flash him an exasperated look. Nick gave her an apologetic smile.
We’re a family again, Nick thought at Manon, you and me and Arlette. But Jason can’t have that. We owe it to him to be kind. It could so easily have gone the other way.
Hope flared again in Jason. “Thanks, Nick,” he said. “I’ve given Arlette our phone number in Los Angeles. She can call and let me know where you’re staying.”
“Good,” Nick said. “I hope we can talk soon.”
Jason threw his arms around Nick, squeezed tight. Nick hugged him back, careful of his broken ribs.
“You’ll be okay,” Nick said. “You know that, right? After what you’ve been through, adolescence in Los Angeles is going to be easy.”
“I guess,” Jason said.
And then, as they stood in their embrace, the earth gave a sudden jolt. Thunderous booms crashed through the air. Nick and Jason stepped back, legs and arms both wide for balance, as the earth shivered, a series of sprawling, looping rolls that almost sent them tumbling like circus clowns. And then it ceased. The southeast horizon boomed as the earthquake sped away. Nick stood on the green earth, his heart lurching crazily in his chest.
“Aftershock,” Manon said, in the sudden, expectant silence.
Nick and Jason looked at each other, and Nick saw that they both understood the pitiless message sent in that moment by the violence of the earth. That the world was not done with them; that they were atremble always on the edge of the crevasse; and that in the end the world, this ancient and multifarious remnant of an exploded star would have its remorseless way.