until he gives us something. Too much too soon, and the game’s up.”
“I don’t care about the drugs.”
“I just walked in on my little sister with some guy’s hand down her pants.” Jack’s tone was conversational. “I don’t particularly care about the drugs right now, either.”
“Good, because you probably scared him away for good.”
I felt his burning green eyes on me, piercing into me. “I mean it, Josie. Don’t fuck him.”
“That’s up to me.” My voice didn’t sound nearly as brave as I’d intended it to.
“Is it?” Jack said.
We sat in uncomfortable silence. Somewhere an owl hooted, and I could hear distant cars cruising by on the highway.
Jack grabbed my hand and kissed it. Just like Kevin had. “Baby sister,” he said. As quickly as I shook him off, he had my hand again and was stroking my palm. “Poor smaller, weaker sister, with her big mean brother—”
“Who can’t make up his mind about what he wants—”
“Only a promise. That’s all I want. Your most solemn, sacred promise not to deliver until Monkey-boy does. Baby sister can wait that long, can’t she? For her mean old brother?”
“Shut up. You’re being a dork.”
“Dork. That’s very expressive.” He shook his head sadly. “Two weeks with a high school superstud and she drops fifty IQ points.” He moved to tickle me. I squirmed away, and then I was laughing in spite of myself. We were laughing together.
Finally, I said, “I like him.”
“Then you can have him,” Jack said simply. “I want you to have everything you want.”
Kevin didn’t want to come back. Not at first.
“Can’t we do something else?” he said during one of the many phone conversations we had that week. “Can’t I take you out to dinner? Maybe you could come over to my house. My mom’s a good cook.”
The last thing I wanted to do was sit at a table and eat meatloaf with Kevin’s parents, so I kept reassuring him that Jack wasn’t going to kill or maim or otherwise injure him. Jack was always close by during these conversations. He was usually laughing.
“Let him stay gone if he’s so determined,” Jack said after a week of this. “It’s not as if he was doing anything for us, anyway.” Then he smiled wickedly. “Well, I guess he was doing something for you, wasn’t he, little sister? Or was it the other way around?”
“Stop it.” I spoke quietly, with a big smile. We had long since discovered, Jack and I, that the best way to keep your voice low and calm while saying nasty things was to force your words through a smile. Raeburn was home and in a rage. He’d locked himself away in his study, so Jack and I were sitting in the parlor, dressed in our dinner clothes. We had been playing chess but we’d started arguing instead, and now the pieces lay forgotten on the table. “If you hadn’t scared him off, he might have done something for us.”
“You don’t get it.”
“I get that he’s terrified that you’re going to bash his head in.”
Jack shrugged. “Maybe he’s right.”
“You won’t,” I said. “You wouldn’t.”
“The point, dear sister, is that he thinks I will.” Now he was smiling, too. The effect was disconcerting. “He thinks I want to kill him because I caught him in a compromising position with my only and beloved sister. If you ever do get the pathetic little shit back up here, he’s going to bend over backward to make sure that he stays in one piece. Thus, success.”
“What if he doesn’t come back? What if you’ve driven him away for good?”
“Thus, success. But of a different sort.” He picked up one of my rooks, which he’d taken earlier and left lying on its side, and stood it upright.
“You’re jealous.”
“Of Kevin McMonkey?” he said with contempt. “I don’t think so.”
From another part of the house there came a tremendous crash that made us both jump, and we heard Raeburn bellow, “John! Josephine! Come here!”
We instantly forgot
“I don’t care about the drugs.”
“I just walked in on my little sister with some guy’s hand down her pants.” Jack’s tone was conversational. “I don’t particularly care about the drugs right now, either.”
“Good, because you probably scared him away for good.”
I felt his burning green eyes on me, piercing into me. “I mean it, Josie. Don’t fuck him.”
“That’s up to me.” My voice didn’t sound nearly as brave as I’d intended it to.
“Is it?” Jack said.
We sat in uncomfortable silence. Somewhere an owl hooted, and I could hear distant cars cruising by on the highway.
Jack grabbed my hand and kissed it. Just like Kevin had. “Baby sister,” he said. As quickly as I shook him off, he had my hand again and was stroking my palm. “Poor smaller, weaker sister, with her big mean brother—”
“Who can’t make up his mind about what he wants—”
“Only a promise. That’s all I want. Your most solemn, sacred promise not to deliver until Monkey-boy does. Baby sister can wait that long, can’t she? For her mean old brother?”
“Shut up. You’re being a dork.”
“Dork. That’s very expressive.” He shook his head sadly. “Two weeks with a high school superstud and she drops fifty IQ points.” He moved to tickle me. I squirmed away, and then I was laughing in spite of myself. We were laughing together.
Finally, I said, “I like him.”
“Then you can have him,” Jack said simply. “I want you to have everything you want.”
Kevin didn’t want to come back. Not at first.
“Can’t we do something else?” he said during one of the many phone conversations we had that week. “Can’t I take you out to dinner? Maybe you could come over to my house. My mom’s a good cook.”
The last thing I wanted to do was sit at a table and eat meatloaf with Kevin’s parents, so I kept reassuring him that Jack wasn’t going to kill or maim or otherwise injure him. Jack was always close by during these conversations. He was usually laughing.
“Let him stay gone if he’s so determined,” Jack said after a week of this. “It’s not as if he was doing anything for us, anyway.” Then he smiled wickedly. “Well, I guess he was doing something for you, wasn’t he, little sister? Or was it the other way around?”
“Stop it.” I spoke quietly, with a big smile. We had long since discovered, Jack and I, that the best way to keep your voice low and calm while saying nasty things was to force your words through a smile. Raeburn was home and in a rage. He’d locked himself away in his study, so Jack and I were sitting in the parlor, dressed in our dinner clothes. We had been playing chess but we’d started arguing instead, and now the pieces lay forgotten on the table. “If you hadn’t scared him off, he might have done something for us.”
“You don’t get it.”
“I get that he’s terrified that you’re going to bash his head in.”
Jack shrugged. “Maybe he’s right.”
“You won’t,” I said. “You wouldn’t.”
“The point, dear sister, is that he thinks I will.” Now he was smiling, too. The effect was disconcerting. “He thinks I want to kill him because I caught him in a compromising position with my only and beloved sister. If you ever do get the pathetic little shit back up here, he’s going to bend over backward to make sure that he stays in one piece. Thus, success.”
“What if he doesn’t come back? What if you’ve driven him away for good?”
“Thus, success. But of a different sort.” He picked up one of my rooks, which he’d taken earlier and left lying on its side, and stood it upright.
“You’re jealous.”
“Of Kevin McMonkey?” he said with contempt. “I don’t think so.”
From another part of the house there came a tremendous crash that made us both jump, and we heard Raeburn bellow, “John! Josephine! Come here!”
We instantly forgot
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