âWeâll send you to ask.â
âOh no. You twoâ¦youâll go broke.â
âWhatever money we lose to each other,â he said, ânever costs us anything. And even when Iâm winning, I want Annie to win too. Not that moment, but soon.â
âFly?â Opal was squirming.
I stood up, raised her in my arms. âFlyâ¦â
âLotte was like you in the water,â Aunt Stormy said, âa fish.â
As Opalâs chubby feet kneaded the air above the waves, it came to me that she was not only my sister but also my daughterâlinks far tighter than either one link by itselfâand that, through her, my parents were continuing to live in my arms.
I raised her higher. âFlyâ¦â Daughter. And pressed my lips against her back. No longer her make-believe mother. But her real mother. Now.
My daughter giggled.
Aunt Stormy was digging her toes into the sand, dislodging something.
âWhat did you find?â Mason asked.
âA critter bit?â I asked.
She bent. Picked up a piece of cartilage attached to a bone and a couple of feathers. âAn excellent critter bit.â
As a child, Iâd loved searching with her along the beach for wings and bones and skulls and spines.
âOh dear,â she would say, âthose critters have come apart.â
Weâd collect the critter bits, carry them to her cottage, and assemble them with string and wire and nails, creating an animal unlike any other; and when Iâd try to breathe life into the bleached bones, Iâd feel all-powerful. It was there that my fascination with collages began, with the boldness and conviction that I could resurrect these animals as I envisioned them, orâperhapsâas they were destined to be.
Mason
âbut the moon and the rocks were getting hotter, your breaths faster. And though you and Jake were not touchingânot yet, AnnieâI saw you together.
âFor Christâs sakesâJust do it.â
âWill you please quite?â Jake snapped at me. âPlease, Mason?â
Thatâs when I needed proof. The kind of proof you get by offering people something they claim they donât want. âIf you make love now, Iâll believe itâs not an issue between you, that youâre telling the truth.â
âThat is some fucked logic.â Your voice was so furious, Annie, that I knew I was in for chaos with you, even if I quit now.
But I couldnât quit. Because Jakeâs wanting of you was soâ¦blatant. Itâs not like I invented it, Annie. It was all there, like if often is with him. Like when he throws back his head, or when he positions himself in Aunt Stormyâs hammock just so, as if daring you to touch his jaw to make sure it really is that unbearably smooth.
âJust do it,â I told him.
âIâm getting out of here,â he said.
And I was so relievedâ¦relieved beyond relieved, Annieâ¦and already pictured myself following Jake from this drowsy and blighted heatâ¦the night cold against our skin and yet already turning into glowâ¦bracing us for that leap into our pond that will conceal our movements.
But Jake did not get out.
Jake said, âQuit being such a weird fuck, Mason.â
But I could see the change in you, Annie. How you and Jake suddenly considered each otherâs bodies. Speculated. Forbidden. Like Jake and me at summer camp, Annie, and you finding us on the raft. Forbidden. Scared and turned on and sure heâd kill me if he could.
That same urgency last night in the sauna. That same urgency this morning in your studio. One collage is not enough, Annie. I used to love being in here with you, the two of us organizing your supplies, arranging your rice papers by thickness, and Iâd listen to you think aloud about your next project. Like White on White . The pond in winter. You said it had to do with memory and coldness, and I was awed by how you
David Housewright
Emily Evans
Jory Strong
Emily Skrutskie
Howard Jacobson
Anastasia Maltezos
Sarah McCarty
Tom Rose
Kate Christensen
Joe R. Lansdale