21. CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 21
ETHAN
A mindfuck—that’s what tonight has been. I can’t believe what Ari has been through. If I didn’t just tuck her into my bed before coming back out to sleep on the couch, I wouldn’t believe she is actually here.
Grabbing my tablet off the coffee table and falling onto the couch, I immediately open up an internet browser and type in “Arlene Scott + Rochester + car accident,” but get nothing. I try “Rochester + hit and run,” and scroll through news stories from the past two years. Again, no results come up. Abandoning the search, I reach for my phone and fire off a text to Fonz.
Dude, how could you not tell me about Ari???
I go back to the tablet and pull up the ROC Record news website and search Ari’s name but get nothing. How could there be no news articles about the accident?
My phone dings with a response from Fonz.
You hate me?
Of course not. I’m just totally mind blown and confused and, honestly, a little messed up over it all
I get it. I promise I will lay it all out for you tomorrow. I’ll be home either very late or very early. You’ll be around?
I close the tablet, giving up on my search, then type out a reply on my phone.
Yeah. Ari is here. She fell asleep on the couch so I put her to bed
Three bubbles appear and disappear, then Fonz responds with the emoji with the brain exploding.
Bruh, you have no idea.
I lay down on the couch and pull the throw blanket up over myself, grab the pillow Ari was sleeping on, and tuck it under my head. Immediately I am hit with a whiff of something floral and sweet. I turn my face into it and inhale heavily, and the familiar smell evokes a childhood memory. Although it’s been several years, the imagery plays through my mind with striking clarity.
I bounce up the steps, giving the bus driver a nod and turning down the aisle, taking a seat about midway, thankful the school day is over.
The ride home is quick as I chat with Fonz, and at some point big, fat snowflakes start to fall—the first snowfall of the season. When we get to my house, I stay put, opting instead to get off at Fonz’s house. However, as the bus rolls to a stop and pauses before the driver realizes I’m not getting off, I catch sight of Ari curled up on her front step. Since she’s a grade behind us, she isn’t in middle school with us and takes a different bus. Her posture is much like it was the first time I saw her: arms and mitten-covered hands hug her knees to her chest, and a head topped by a knit cap is tucked into her knees like she’s rolled up into a little ball.
The bus engine chugs and the vehicle begins going forward again, the sound gaining Ari’s attention. Her head shoots up as we start to roll away, and I get a glimpse of her face. The bruise on the side of her chin from last week is fading, but it’s the look in her eyes that gets me. She’s scared.
And then I see why.
Axel comes out from around the side of the house calling her for. But this time, she doesn’t run. She just curls herself in tighter, as if she could hide inside her puffy coat.
I stand and turn to look out the back door of the bus as we head away from her house—and mine. It’s only another minute before we stop in front of Fonz’s house and step off, along with Sean and Catherine. Fonz opens the front door and the three of them file through, eager to go inside and play video games. But I stop, gripping the strap of my backpack as it hangs from my shoulder.
“Actually, guys, I think I’m just going to head home. I forgot that I told my mom I would help her with something.”
Catherine and Sean exchange a look, while Fonz says, “Yeah, Ethan. Go check on things at home. Oh! But first, take something with you. Smells like chocolate!”
He disappears around the corner and pops back a moment later with a napkin wrapped around two chocolate brownies. “Take one for yourself, and one for … uh … later.” He tips his head in the direction of my house, because he knows exactly who I’m going to share these with.
The cold air pierces my lungs with each breath as hurried steps crunch atop the now snow-covered ground, bringing me closer to Ari’s house. She’s no longer sitting on the front step. Looking around and out at the fields, which are wide open now since it’s winter, I don’t see any blur of red or any movement at all.
Then I hear the creak of a door opening.
I spin around and see the back door of Axel’s old, broken-down Accord ajar. Glancing around to make sure he’s nowhere in sight, I jog over, slink inside the back seat and softly pull the door shut, careful not to make a sound.
“You don’t have to be quiet.”
“Gah!” The sound of Ari’s voice makes me jump. She’s sitting on the floor between the front and back seats, her back resting against the door opposite me, legs bent with a notepad resting on them. The end of a sucker sticks out of the corner of her mouth, and a little blue from the sugary treat is collecting in the corners of her lips.
“You scared the bejesus out of me,” I say, placing a hand over my rapidly beating heart.
Ari is quiet for a moment as she finishes writing something, then pulls the sucker out of her mouth with a smacking sound. “Sorry.”
“I was just expecting you to whisper. I saw Axel stalking around earlier, so I thought …”
Ari just shakes her head. “He’s asleep now.” She slips the sucker back in her mouth and starts writing again. I can hear the hard candy banging against her teeth as she shifts it from side to side with a little slurp.
Tipping my head back against the seat and closing my eyes, it’s only a moment before I hear the “pop” of the sucker leaving Ari’s mouth, and then her voice.
“What’s that smell?”
“Hmm?”
“Something smells really good.” I hear her stomach grumble.
“Oh!” I sit up straighter and dig into my coat pocket. “How could I forget? These are from Fonz’s house.” She plucks the sucker from her mouth as I pull the little bundle out and unwrap the napkin on my lap. Dark crumbs of baked chocolate spill out the sides, but I’m quick to press my thighs together so they don’t fall onto the floor. Ari eyes the brownies in my lap, her tongue making a quick swipe of her lower lip.
“Come here,” I say.
Ari hooks the clip of the pen into the side of her notebook, then places it on the seat before hoisting herself up beside me.
“They’re still a little warm, so they’re messy.” I drag the napkin holding the brownies from my lap to hers, then turn and face her, and can’t help blurting out, “You have freckles.” How have I never noticed the freckles splattered over the bridge of her nose and running onto her cheeks and forehead?
She stares at me for a moment, then her green eyes drift down to my lip, and I know what she wants to ask. A lot of people do. “You ever heard of cleft lip?”
She shakes her head.
“Well, it’s when you’re born with a lip that’s like, split, kind of.” I rub my finger over the thin line as I explain. “That’s how I was born. When I was a baby the doctor sewed it up for me, but it left a scar.”
Ari doesn’t say anything, just looks down at her lap. “You brought these for me?” I can’t tell if she changes the subject to spare my feelings about the scar, or she truly doesn’t care that I have it.
“Yes,” I reply. “Well, no. Not both of them. One is for me.” Reaching down and plucking one brownie off the napkin, I wait for her to do the same. We bite into them at the same time, and she rolls her eyes while I groan in delight.
We devour them quickly, sitting in comfortable silence as the snowfall picks up outside, leaving fat, wet splatters on the windows. I slide my tongue around the inside of my mouth, collecting remnants of brownie and swallowing them, then crack my knuckles. “Are you writing another letter to your mom?”
Ari pops the sucker back in her mouth and talks around it. “Yeah. But I guess it’s kinda stupid. I’ll probably never find her anyway.”
“Why do you say that?”
She reaches over and picks up the pad of paper and pen. “It’ll be a few years before I can drive, and by then, who knows if I’ll be able to find her.”
“Well, I turn sixteen before you do, and I plan to get my driver’s license like, day one, so how about I take you to find your birth records? That way you don’t have to wait as long.”
Ari looks at me. Then down. Then back up at me. “You would do that for me?”
“Of course. You’re my friend. I would do anything for you. Well, OK, maybe not anything. Like, I wouldn’t kill anyone for you. Or break any major laws because I don’t want to go to jail. But most anything else, you could ask me, and I’ll say yes.”
Her cheeks flush and Ari smiles wide. “OK,” she says timidly. “Thanks.”
I want to ask what kinds of things she writes to her mom. I wonder if she’s asking questions, or sharing details about her day. I wonder if she writes about Axel.
I wonder if she writes about me.
While Ari picks the pen back up and continues to write, I tip my head back against the seat and close my eyes again, enjoying the quiet once more. After a while, my head lulls to the side and I startle myself awake.
A giggle comes from beside me. “What?” I ask groggily.
“You were snoring.”
“Was not.” I smack my dry lips together.
She nods and covers her mouth to hide more giggles, which makes me laugh.
Suddenly, the door at my side is whipped open so fast I almost fall out, but a hand gripping my coat is hauling me out and to my feet. Terror clouds Ari’s eyes as my hands flail out, trying and failing to grip the door frame.
Then I’m pulled face-to-face with someone I don’t expect.
“Dad!”
He holds me up to his face, gripping the chest of my coat with both hands. “What are you doing in there with that girl?” he asks through clenched teeth. “People are going to think you’re up to no good.”
Ari shuffles to the edge of the seat and peers out. “It’s not his fault,” she says meekly. Dad whips his head in her direction. “I asked him to come keep me company while I, um, while I did some homework.”
Boots crunch on the frozen gravel and all three of us turn our heads just as Axel comes into view, making his way around the side of the house.
“James?” he addresses Dad, coming to a stop a few feet away. “What’s going on? These kids up to trouble? Girl, I told you a hundred times to stay out of my car.”
Axel takes a step forward and narrows his gaze on Ari.
But she isn’t looking at him, she’s looking at my dad, silently begging him.
Dad swallows and releases me, taking a step back. “Actually, Axel, I asked Arlene if you had a tire pressure gauge, and she said there was one in the glove compartment. So she was just checking.”
Axel is quiet for a moment. “That right? Well, what is he doing here?” He points at me.
“Oh, he just came around sassing me, is all. And I’ve about had it with his mouth.” Now Dad is staring at me, and I know it’s my turn to speak.
“Sorry, sir,” I say through clenched teeth.
Axel huffs. “Yep, these damn kids need to be reminded who’s in charge around here.” He raises a hand in front of him and snaps his fingers, then points toward the house. “Get in the house, girl. It’s time you make dinner. I’m starved.”
Ari doesn’t hesitate as she jumps out of the car and makes her way toward the house while Dad grabs me by the scruff of my neck and starts heading toward our yard.
“Did she find one?” Axel askes behind us, and both my dad and I turn around. “A tire pressure gauge. Did Arlene find one in the truck?”
“Umm …” Dad pauses a moment. “No, there must not be one in there. No biggie, I’ll buy one at the store tomorrow.”
“Hmm, that’s weird.” Axel turns and approaches his house, and we make our way to ours. Once inside, Dad releases my neck with a shove.
“Dad!” I start. “He’s gonna—”
“Ethan,” he chastises, “mind your own business.”
“But if he thinks she’s lying he’s going to hurt her!”
“Drop it.” He starts to stalk off, but stops and says, without turning back to look at me, “Some people you can’t help, son. It’s time you learn that.”