Twice Shy (23 page)

*  *  *

The State Police intensified the manhunt for Dylan, not only for the previous charges and his "escape" from the mental institution, but this time for attempted vehicular homicide. Dogs, helicopters, and volunteers scoured Ohneka Falls and the surrounding area. The police dogs refused to follow his scent, but a man from Corning reportedly had given him a ride as far as Binghamton in the back of his truck, and the trail from there was cold.

Sunday morning—Easter—Ani and her mom went to church. With heavy makeup on her face and most of the damage contained to her torso, she looked almost uninjured. The pastor greeted them as strangers, which was no surprise. The two to three times a year that they went weren't enough for Ani to remember his name, either. She fidgeted through the ceremony and bounced her way to the car.

The day held an air of excitement. They were going to the city for dinner so that Ani could meet her mom's mystery boyfriend and his son. Ani was thrilled, even though it would mean a mechanical flushing when she got home.

"What if I don't like him?" Ani had asked her mom.

"You will," she'd replied, but she looked nervous.

Jake was out of the hospital. Ani's mom gave her a ride to his house so she could personally deliver a card.
No flowers. The last thing I need is that kind of misunderstanding.
There were half a dozen cars in front of his house, and he answered the door himself, nose bruised and swollen.

"Ani! Hey! How are you feeling?" He gave her a gentle hug. Startled, she returned it, her head brushing against the bandage on his scalp.

"Good, Jake. How are you?" She pulled away. His eyes were bright and alert, and all things considered, he looked pretty good.

"I'm okay. I'm glad you're all right. Come on in." He stood aside so she could go past him.

"I can't stay. I'm leaving for Rochester in a little while. I'm sorry I didn't see you more in the hospital—"

"It's okay. You had your own recovering to do. I'm sorry I didn't see the truck. I should have seen, well..."

"There's nothing you could have done," Ani said. She held out the card. "This is for you."

"Thanks," he said, and shoved it unopened into his pocket.

"Look, I need to get going. It's good to see you."

"You, too," he said. "I'm glad you're okay." He hugged her again. This time he held it and squeezed.

"Careful," she said, and he let up the pressure without letting go. She patted his back, pried herself loose, and turned back down the sidewalk toward her mom's idling car. "Happy Easter, Jake."

"You, too, Ani."

*  *  *

The Crystal Barn was more "crystal" than "barn," with high ceilings and chandeliers of gold and crystal.
Whoops.
She felt underdressed in her black turtleneck and slacks. Her mom looked somehow radiant and exhausted in a black dress a little too low on top and high on the bottom, her diamond earrings sparkling in the diffused light.
At least we match.

They approached the tuxedoed maître d' and her mother said, "Brown, party of four."
There's no freaking way your boyfriend's name is Mike Brown.
And either it was Ani's imagination, or her mother was looking anywhere but at her.

"The rest of your party has not arrived," the host said. "Would you like to be seated, or would you care to wait?"

"We'll sit," her mother said. The host led them to their table—they pulled their own chairs out, thank you—and left them alone. It wasn't her imagination. Her mom looked at the chandelier, the wallpaper, the ceiling... everywhere but at Ani.

"Your boyfriend's name is Mike Brown," Ani said.
This is so not funny.
"Mike. Brown."

"I'd have told you earlier, sweetie, but I wasn't sure how you'd take it." The server interrupted, dropped off four menus, and left without taking their drink orders.

"That's a heck of a coincidence," Ani said.

Her mom licked her lips. "It's not a coincidence."
This absolutely can't be happening.

"You're dating Mike's
dad
?" Ani wanted to scream. "
My
Mike?"

"He's not your Mike." Her mom smiled over Ani's shoulder. "And here they are now."

Ani turned to look. Mr. Brown had put on weight since she'd last seen him, but otherwise looked like an older, graying version of his son. Mike belonged on the cover of
GQ
, ruggedly handsome in a blue three-piece suit. When he noticed them, his face darkened to a thundercloud.
Surprise.

They approached the table and her mom stood for a quick kiss, then they all sat. Mr. Brown and her mom made small talk while Mike glared at Ani from across the table. Ani shrugged at him, but he didn't let up. When she tapped his leg with her foot, he shifted out of the way.

Mr. Brown ordered appetizers for all of them—escargot, bacon-wrapped lobster, and a duck quesadilla. Being a "vegan" meant she didn't have to touch any of it. She looked at the menu to avoid looking at Mike. It gave her another reason to scowl.

"There's nothing vegan on this menu," Ani blurted, interrupting their small talk.
Just because I'm a fake vegan doesn't mean I can't get offended on their behalf.

"I thought of that when I picked this place," Mr. Brown said. "There's a vegetable grill pasta on the back page."

"It comes with feta cheese. And pasta has eggs in it anyway."

"Oh." He had the decency to look chagrined. "How about the garden salad?"

She read the entry. It looked safe.
Damn.
"Okay, I guess I'll have that."

Their appetizers came. Mike ate in sullen near-silence as their parents pestered them about school. They both gave as close to monosyllabic answers as they were able. Her mom glared at her, and Mike's dad glared at him, and both tried too hard to have a good time.

When the server took their orders, ladies first, Ani asked for the salad.

"What kind of dressing would you like?"

"What are my options?"

The server's eyes rolled up as she recited the list from memory. "Um, buttermilk ranch, peppercorn ranch, parmesan vinaigrette, French, Russian, and Italian."

"Do you have anything vegan?"

"Italian—"

"Has cheese in it," Ani said.

"Russian—"

"Made with mayonnaise."

"French—"

Ani rolled her eyes to her mom, who glared without sympathy at the act. "Worcestershire sauce, which is made with anchovies." She rolled them back to the server. "Just bring it dry."

"One dry salad." She moved on to Mr. Brown, who seemed uncomfortable ordering veal in front of a vegan, but he did it anyway.

When the server left, her mom pestered Mike about Devon. "Where's she going to school? What is she going to study? What do you guys do for fun?" Mike responded to each question with no enthusiasm or detail. Images of Devon fastening her bra in his living room throttled Ani's mood.
You don't want to know what they do for fun.
By question six or seven, she was ready to scream.
Maybe if I fake a seizure they'll let me leave.

"So, Ani," Mr. Brown said. "Do you have a special man in your life?"

Ani closed her eyes so she wouldn't look at Mike. With her eyes closed, he was all she could see.
I can't do this.

"I'm a lesbian," Ani said.

"Ani!" her mom scolded. "Be polite!"

"Him first. It wasn't a polite question."

"You apologize right this—"

"Him first!"

"Ani, this is not—"

Mike interrupted her, his voice quaking. "So the two of you have been dating since mid-January?"

"Yes," Mr. Brown said, a fake half-smile on his lips. "A few weeks after Christmas."

Ani saw where this was going and shrank down in her seat.
Don't be too grateful about the change of topic, Mr. Brown.

"So during February break, when we were supposed to go ice fishing and you canceled, you were with Mrs. Romero?" Mr. Brown scowled at his son. Ani tried to make herself even smaller. "And our weekend in March when you were supposed to give me a tour around the U of R? Or last weekend, when—"

"That is enough," Mr. Brown said.

"Yeah," Mike said. He pulled his napkin from his lap and dropped it on the empty plate, then shoved back from the table. "It is." He stood and stormed out.

Her mom glared after him. "Now that's childish. How is he going to get home?"

"He's got the keys," Mr. Brown said. "He'll probably just leave."

Ani stood. "I'll go talk to him."

"As long as you don't leave with him," her mom said. "He needs to come back in here and eat like a civilized person."
Yeah. Civilized. Awesome.

Ani got to the door as Mike started the engine. Mike pulled out of the parking space and she stepped in front of the car. She'd never seen him so angry, not even clubbing Dylan with a shovel.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me, Ani."

She opened her mouth to reply and he gunned the gas. She stepped out of the way as he squealed out of the parking lot.
I didn't know
died on her lips.

When she got back to the table her salad had arrived, dusted with grated cheese.

Chapter 25

It was a relief to get back to school. Mike's embarrassed avoidance had been replaced with rage-filled shunning, and he wouldn't let her explain. He doted on Devon whenever she was around, much more than he had before, but it was petty and mean-spirited, and from the looks Devon gave him, she'd caught on.

Careful, Mike. Thinking about me at all—even if it's hate—brings out her inner psycho.
Getting dumped would serve him right for jumping to conclusions.

"You," Fey said, interrupting her thoughts, "need a freaking hobby." She opened Ani's purse, plucked out a cigarette, and tucked it in her cleavage.

"Excuse me?" Ani asked.
I have lots of hobbies. I paint, play the piano, write music—

"Every time I think you're done with that jerk, you go all dreamy-eyed-stare-y." Fey grabbed her by the shoulders and shook her. "Earth to Romero. He's not interested. Give it up."

"I gave it up a long time ago," Ani said.
Until I'm cured.

Fey tapped her on the forehead. "In there, maybe," she said. She poked her in the sternum. "Not in there."

"What the hell do you know about it?" Ani said. She slammed her locker and walked away.

*  *  *

That night Ani was reading in her bedroom when she heard a tap against the window. She looked over and saw another pebble bounce off the glass. Frowning, she walked to the window and looked down. Fey stood in her yard, wrapped in a parka too big by half.

Ani opened the window and kept her voice low.
Not that it matters.
These days her mother slept like the dead. "What do you want, Fey?" The air was warm for an April night. She held up the book. "I'm busy."

"Just get the hell down here so I can apologize," Fey said. She dropped the pebbles she'd been holding right in the grass. Ani imagined Dylan lurking in the shadows, waiting to pounce.

"I'll let you in," Ani said. She closed the window, hobbled down the stairs, and opened the door. Fey walked in, and Ani closed and re-locked the door.

"Paranoid much?" Fey asked.

"No," Ani said. "Just careful."
The only place he can get serum is here.

"They still haven't found him, have they?" Fey sat on the couch, bounced up and down a few times, then settled in. "Nice couch."

Ani sat on the piano bench and folded her hands on her knee. "Look, I'm sorry for freaking out at you today..."

"My fault," Fey said. "I know there are some topics I just shouldn't bring up, but my mouth goes faster than my brain."

While my brain always wanders to the same place.

"Don't sweat it."

"Still friends?" Fey asked.

"Of course," Ani said. "But we won't be allowed to be if Mom catches you in here."

Fey rolled her eyes. "Oooh, Mommy."

*  *  *

The next day Fey grabbed her arm as they passed in the hall, spinning her around. "Ani, did you find an earring after I left last night?"

Ani shook her head. "No, but I didn't look either. What's it look like?"

"Let me know if you do. It's a real diamond."

"Sure," Ani said. "Maybe it's in the couch cushions."

It wasn't.

*  *  *

That night her mom swept the floor while Ani practiced Rachmaninoff.
I'd rather be painting, but these days all I ever paint is Mike.
She had several paintings of Mike-as-Seraph that she was too embarrassed to show anyone she knew, even her mom.
Maybe especially Mom.
She knew they were excellent in terms of technique, her best work ever, so she'd put them in her college portfolio—only Mr. Frazer and the admissions officers would ever see them.

Her mom bent down and interrupted her music. "What's this?" She held up a small, sparkling earring.

"Oh, wow, I think that's Fey's," Ani said.

Her mom frowned. "How did it end up behind the loveseat?"

"It must have stuck to my clothes or something. She lost it yesterday at lunch. She was really freaking out about it." Ani walked over and took it from her mom.

"Yeah, this is hers. So weird that you found it. I'm going to run it over to her."

Her mom's frown deepened. "It's getting dark."

"It's two houses away. You can watch me from the window."

Her mom
tsk-
ed. "Hurry up."

Ani threw on her boots without lacing them up and trudged across the Washington’s back yard to the Daniels's house. The lights were on both upstairs and down, and System of a Down blared from Fey's window. Ani looked in the side door and didn't see anyone in the kitchen or dining room, so she knocked. She waited, tried again. Nothing.

The darkness at her back creeped her out. She tried the doorknob, and the door opened. "Hello?" she yelled. No one answered. "Mrs. Daniels?"

She stepped inside, earring in hand, and headed for the stairs. As she entered the living room a cat exploded out of a chair in a hissing frenzy, then scrambled into the master bedroom. Fey's mom lay on the couch, mouth open and drooling, a can of Coors Light spilled in her lap.
Not even eight o'clock. Nice.