Fragile Beasts (28 page)

He puts his hands together palm against palm and even in the darkness, I can see his Cheshire Cat grin.

“Sister sandwich.”

He bends down and scoops up a handful of gravel and starts picking through it looking for a rock worth throwing.

“So what’s up with your brother?” he asks me.

Klint ignored him all night, and when all hell broke loose at the dinner table after Mrs. Jack started crying and Mr. Jack went stomping off, Klint got up and left, too.

“I think you kind of pissed him off,” I reply. “I think he only invited you ’cause he thought you’d get under Miss Jack’s skin and he could have a good laugh. I know he thought there was no way you’d eat the food.”

He takes a stone about the size of a marble and whips it sidearm out into the night. It seems to take forever before we hear the click of it hitting the barn.

“You kidding me? I got to eat squid ink. Killer whales eat squid. I swear I feel pumped.”

He pauses to do some shadowboxing.

“I’m not making this up. I might start eating it all the time. You think this Luis guy could tell me where to get it?”

“He special orders a lot of stuff that gets delivered to the house, and I think it probably costs a lot of money.”

“Figures. You wanna drink squid ink or take a trip on the space shuttle, you gotta be rich. Doesn’t seem right, does it? Seems like those should be activities available to the common man.”

We walk on toward his truck.

The sky above us is a solid mass of sooty nighttime clouds. The moon and stars don’t have a chance of shining through.

“But seriously. What’s up with Klint? I’m not just talking about tonight,” Tyler starts up again. “I’m talking in general. Something’s wrong with him.”

“What do you mean?” I ask, uneasily, remembering the image I had of him being crushed and suffocated by his own life.

“He’s different. That’s all. It’s like he doesn’t care about anything. I mean, I know how hard it was when your dad died and I know you don’t get over something like that right away. Maybe you don’t ever get over it. But you have to keep on living. You know what I mean?”

He looks at me for a moment like he expects me to confirm his theory. I nod and he goes on.

“The way I figure it is when something bad like that happens to you, you get over it by going through the motions even though you don’t feel anything inside, and eventually after you’ve gone through the motions long enough, they start to have meaning again.”

That’s what I did when my mom left. Now I’m doing it again. All this going through the motions leaves me feeling seasick sometimes. I always thought grief was solely an emotion. I never knew it could mess with your gut and your equilibrium.

“You owe it to the person who died. I mean, think about it. Imagine how upset your dad would be if he knew Klint stopped playing ball because he got killed.”

“No, it’s not possible,” I say forcefully, shaking my head. “Klint would never stop playing ball. It’s his whole life. It’s his dream. He hasn’t said anything to me about quitting. He talks about the upcoming season like everything’s okay.”

We arrive at Tyler’s truck. He looks worried. It’s an expression that doesn’t sit well on his open, good-humored face.

“He hasn’t said anything about quitting to me, either. It’s just … I don’t
know. For one thing, I think it’s kind of creepy that he still goes over to Bill’s and sits and stares at your old house. I’ve met him over there a couple times. What’s that about?”

“He’s going to be okay,” I assure him, trying to keep any doubt out of my voice.

He claps my shoulder and gives me a smile before hopping into his truck.

“Hey, let’s hope so. For my sake,” he says out his open window over the cough and roar of his engine struggling to life. “Once he’s in the pros, I fully intend to be the screw-up friend who borrows money from him and hangs out at his parties and bangs all the girls he doesn’t have time for. I don’t want to see all my hopes for the future go down in flames.”

“I thought you wanted to be a bear when you grew up.”

“Man, if only I could,” he tells me, wistfully. “If only I could.”

I watch him drive away, thinking about how much I’d like to be going with him. Mr. Jack’s car is gone. Much to Miss Jack’s horror, he left without his wife.

Miss Jack did everything in her power to convince her hysterical, drunken niece-in-law that she should let Shelby or Bert drive her home. Mrs. Jack refused, saying she planned on never going home again; Miss Jack pursed her lips so tight they turned the same purple color as her skirt.

Starr didn’t seem fazed at all by the scene, but Shelby was obviously upset. When her mom went stumbling off to find Baby who’d been left outside on the porch in his fur-lined, crystal-accented carrier since Miss Jack refused to let him in the house, Shelby went after her. Then Miss Jack excused herself and followed. Then Bert followed her. Then Klint got up without saying a word. I looked up at him standing next to me and for the first time since we came to live with Miss Jack, I noticed the dark circles under his eyes and a slight tremble to his lips. I opened my mouth to say something but before I could figure out what it should be, he walked away.

Tyler and I ate our partridges alone while Starr went into another room and came back with a square-cut glass bottle filled with amber liquor. She poured some in her wineglass and sipped at it until Shelby came back with tears streaking her cheeks and told us Baby was missing.

Starr reluctantly stood up with her drink and said she’d help look.

Tyler and I volunteered to go look for Baby, too, but Shelby insisted that we stay and eat and we didn’t need much convincing.

When Luis reappeared to check on everything and only found me and Tyler devouring his partridges, I thought he’d lose it, but he behaved as if he’d been cooking just for the two of us all along and didn’t even glance at the six other plates of untouched birds.

He even personally brought us dessert: almond cake with pear ice cream drizzled in caramel. Tyler and I both agreed no amount of family fireworks would have ever kept us from finishing such a great meal and we told him so.

He made a formal little bow and said, “Me alegro.”

The night certainly didn’t turn out the way I wanted it to. Luis and I have that in common. I had entertained visions of impressing Shelby’s parents and Shelby finally beginning to look at me as potential boyfriend material.

Instead, her dad hated me, and I turned out to be responsible for the comment that started her mom blubbering and sent the whole dinner to hell.

I don’t even know where anybody is right now. I’m almost tempted to walk down to Jerry’s place. He has a little house that’s not much bigger than a shed about a mile down a path through the trees behind Miss Jack’s mansion.

I came upon it the other day when I was out walking around on my own. I never asked him about it, but I knew it must be his because his favorite flannel shirt was draped over a rocking chair sitting on the front porch, and his rifle was leaning against a wall next to the front door.

I assumed he was inside if he left his gun sitting there that way, but I didn’t bother him for the same reason I know I won’t bother him now. Jerry’s the kind of guy who wants to be left alone. I wish I could be like that.

“Baby! Here, Baby!”

Shelby’s voice rings out, startling me with its nearness.

I turn toward the sound and see the white sweep of a flashlight and the red wink of a cigarette coming up the driveway.

I’m about to head toward the two female shadows when I clearly hear Starr say, “Like I said, screwing a professor is fun because it’s a power trip but unless you’re into the whole daddy thing, the sex is never good. They’re old men. They smell like old men. Plus if they’re screwing you, it means they’re usually screwing other students or they’re planning on it.”

Hearing this, I instantly decide there might be more advantages to overhearing the sisters’ private conversation than trying to be part of it. I quickly duck down behind Bert’s Mercedes and peer out from under his bumper at the girls as they come to a stop in front of the house.

I’ve always thought of Shelby as pretty innocent, so I’m expecting her to be shocked by her sister’s comments but she seems to ignore them.

“What’s Dad going to do with you?” she asks.

“Nothing. Like he always does. Throw some money at me. Tell me to go away.”

“What are you going to do?”

“I don’t know, but I’m definitely dropping out of college for good.”

“You only went for a year.”

“What’s the point? It’s not like I’m ever going to need to get a job.”

Starr takes a drag off her cigarette, tilts up her head, and blows a soft stream of smoke into the air.

“But don’t you want to do something with your life?” Shelby continues prodding her. “Won’t you get bored?”

“Partying with Dad’s money is going to get boring but sitting in an office somewhere isn’t? It’s all boring.”

“Sky did it and she’s not half as smart as you.”

“You don’t have to be smart to go to college,” Starr laughs. “Where’d you get that idea? Sky went to college because she saw it as one more big social event. She joined her little sorority and took the easiest classes she could find and accomplished her goal, which was to snag a rich husband. She’ll graduate this summer with a degree in wasting time and spend the next two years planning her wedding with Mom.”

The two of them take a seat at the bottom of the front porch staircase. The outdoor lights shine behind them, causing everything about them to be shadowed in black except for their hair, which throws off glints of copper and gold each time one of them moves her head.

Tyler may see them as slices of human bread to be slapped on either side of him. I see them as treasure to be discovered then spent.

“Not everyone’s cut out for college. That’s all,” Starr continues. “You’ll love it, though. It’s right up your alley.”

“What’s that supposed to mean? You make it sound like an insult.”

“It’s not an insult. Maybe you can follow your sweetie. Go to the University of Fast Balls.”

My heart starts beating quicker. I know they have to be talking about Klint, and Starr called him Shelby’s sweetie.

“You never told me what you think of him,” Shelby says.

“He’s good-looking but that’s it.”

“You don’t understand him.”

“What’s to understand? He’s dumb as a brick.”

“You’re one to talk.”

“Hey, I’m the first to admit I’ve been with some real dim bulbs, but I knew what I was doing. It’s fine to screw a guy just for fun and know the whole time you’re doing it that he’s a moron and completely self-centered but you don’t care because he’s got a bod to die for and he’s a great lay, but not every girl can handle that. You’re not like that, Shel, and I don’t want you to be. You’re going to have to fall in love before you do the deed. Your problem right now is you’re physically attracted to this Klint kid, but instead of accepting that he’s a self-absorbed, dumb jock, you try to make him into a deep, misunderstood guy so you can convince yourself you’re in love with him when you’re not. You just think he’s hot.”

They fall silent for a moment, and I use the time to crawl completely under Bert’s car. I’m as close as I can get without them seeing me.

“What about his brother?” Starr asks.

“Kyle? He’s sweet.”

“And cute.”

“And cute, I guess. But he’s a kid.”

“I thought he was your age.”

“He’ll be fifteen next month.”

“So what? You just turned sixteen. That’s one year.”

“Klint’s a man.”

“He’s not a man. Trust me.”

Starr stands up and tosses her cigarette into the grass.

“None of this matters anyway, Shel. Some hot Frenchman’s going to whisk you off your feet.”

Shelby laughs.

“Even if you don’t hook up with anyone seriously, after a couple months in France, the guys here are going to seem so immature and pointless to you. You’ll be dying to get back to Europe. Come on. Let’s go back inside.”

“But what about Baby? What if he’s really lost? What if he makes it down to the road and gets hit by a car or something eats him in the woods?”

“Mom will mourn him for a day, then replace him with a Pekingese. Come on.”

Starr reaches out a hand for her sister and helps her to her feet.

“I’m going to get Bert to take me back into town. I’ve had enough quality family time for one night. You have to stay with Mom and convince her to let you take her home. We can’t leave her here. We can’t do that to Aunt Candace.”

I stay under the car even after they’ve gone inside and the door has closed behind them. My head is whirling from everything I just heard.

I try and separate the good from the bad.

Shelby and Starr both think I’m cute. This is good. Very good. Shelby doesn’t think I’m a man. This is bad. Starr doesn’t think Klint is a man. I don’t like to hear my brother insulted, but this could work in my favor. Shelby likes Klint a lot more than I thought, enough that she’s been discussing him with her sister. This is bad. Shelby thinks I’m sweet. This could be good or bad now that her sister’s informed her that it’s fine to have sex with jerks as long as you know they’re jerks.

I don’t know how long I’ve been lying here with my face smashed against the driveway staring at the world from an ant’s-eye view when someone kicks my foot.

“Hey!”

I jerk up my head and smack it on the underside of Bert’s car.

“Ow!” I cry.

A hand grabs me by the ankle and starts pulling me out. I’m relieved to see it’s Klint, then I’m pissed to see it’s Klint.

I sit up, brushing dirt off the front of my clothes, and start picking gravel out of my cheek.

He’s no longer wearing his nice clothes. He’s changed into old ripped jeans and a gray Flames hoodie sweatshirt. Peeking out of the front pocket pouch is Baby.

“You found him!”

“I took him,” he says.

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, I took him. When everybody went running off and I realized the whole night was ruined for you, I got the idea to take the dog. I knew Shelby and her mom would freak out. Then later I figured I’d give him to you and you could be the big hero who found him and make major points with them.”