Frankie
I have to tell Lucy about Erica. About this note.
The threat looms over me.
The piece of paper burns a hole in my pocket as I sit at the kitchen table with the rest of the family for breakfast. We’re all sitting in our usual spots, and the table is full of our favorites: a platter of bagels and smoked salmon; a small tub of scallion cream cheese; an enormous bowl of sliced strawberries; a glass pitcher of freshly squeezed orange juice; and a plate piled high with sliced onions, cucumbers, and tomatoes.
Everything is exactly as it always is. Everything is normal.
Except for the fact that Millie and Lucy haven’t said a word.
Instead, they’re moving pieces of food around on their plates, looking down or out the window and certainly not engaging with anyone else at the table.
“What’s going on?” I ask, hoping someone will answer.
Dad perks up. “What do you mean, hon?”
“Everyone is obviously on edge, Frankie.” Mom sips her cup of coffee. “I was on the phone with Sally for hours last night. I’m surprised she hasn’t called this morning. They’re talking about bringing in a private detective. The utter incompetence of that Hampton woman.” She clucks her tongue.
“I mean you two,” I say, stabbing my fork in the air at Millie, then Lucy. “What’s going on with you two?”
“Nothing,” they say in unison, and then the room goes quiet. Usually, these brunches are loud, each of us trying to talk over one another as we compete for the last spoonful of whitefish, the last half of an everything bagel. But today…nothing.
“Okay, well, I don’t believe you,” I say, and fold my arms over my chest.
Lucy sighs, her shoulders dropping down in the most dramatic way possible, and then she sets both palms down on the table. “Fine,” she says. “I have news.”
Millie glances up at her, and both of my parents set down their forks.
“Ethan and I broke up,” she says.
The only noise comes from my mother’s inhalation, a suction so loud it hurts my ears.
“Mom,” I say. “Relax.”
But she doesn’t listen and instead stands and pushes her seat so far back it falls over behind her. “Lucy, what are you talking about?”
“Mom,” Lucy says, annoyance tinging her voice. “It’s okay. It’s for the best. Really.”
“Is this about Penn?” Dad says.
“What about Penn?” I ask.
“Dad!” Lucy shouts.
“Oh my god, did you get in?” I ask. Lucy breaks into a tiny smile, and she nods once, an almost imperceptible movement, but that’s all it takes for me to push my chair back and lunge toward her, throwing my arms around her in a hug. “This is amazing! This is the best news ever!”
Lucy had been talking about that school all of last year and was heartbroken when she didn’t get in this spring. It was a shock to us all, considering we thought she could do anything, but I should have known she would get off the waitlist, that she would make it there somehow.
“Thanks, Frankie,” Lucy whispers into my ear, and when I finally release her, I realize everyone else at the table is still in shock over the other news.
“Lucy, is it about Penn?” Mom asks, her voice stern, like she’s about to dole out a punishment. “Because the schools aren’t that far, and I know you two can work it out and—”
“It’s none of your business why Ethan and I broke up,” Lucy says. “You can talk to Gil and Paula all you want about it and try to figure it out, but I’m entitled to privacy in the same way you are.”
Lucy throws her napkin down on the table and crosses her arms over her chest, but that’s when Millie stands up for the first time, pressing her palm to her chest. There’s a pause in the room, like everything has stood still, and I know in an instant that this is one of their secret salutations, part of their language I’m not part of.
I sit back down in my chair and reach for a bagel, tearing it in half and shoving a piece into my mouth.
Lucy stops and smiles, winking with her left eye, then settles back into her seat and resumes eating. “Now, if you’ll let me finish my breakfast before another interrogation, that would be amazing.”
No one says anything for the rest of the meal, and after, Millie races off to her room, probably to read or something, while Lucy and I hang back to clear up.
When it’s just the two of us in the kitchen, moving around each other in an easy dance, I remember how nice it feels to have her to myself, her steady presence, her calm demeanor.
Even if she was acting weird earlier, she is totally herself now. Calm and collected, a protector.
Which is why now’s the time to tell her about Erica.
“Lucy, I need to—” But as I do, her phone vibrates, and she picks it up, holding it to her ear.
“Hey, girl,” she says. But then her eyes get wide, and her mouth drops open. “Calm down. What? Erica, I can’t understand you.”
I set my dishrag down on the counter and peer at her, trying to make out what’s going on.
“Okay,” Lucy says. “Stay put. I’ll be there in five.”
She hangs up and I lean forward. “What’s going on?”
“Erica,” she says, flustered as she pulls her hair into a ponytail. “She’s freaking out.”
“About what?” My heart pounds in my chest. Tell her. Tell her.
“Something’s going on with Billy’s parents? She could barely get the words out. I have to go over there. She’s losing her mind.”
“You can’t go.” I say it forcefully, hoping she’ll stop. But Lucy shakes her head.
“Cover for me. Just once, okay? I’ll be back in an hour.”
“Lucy!” I call after her, fear thumping in my chest, but she’s already gone, slipping out the door.