Rhythmic breathing eventually governed his little body. His innocence was painted in the dirt stains on his face. When Taylor came back for the night, Aria shushed him as he opened the door and explained what had happened in a whisper just quiet enough not to wake Aston up.

Before she fell asleep, she avoided the inclination to think about Omkar by staring down at Aston as he slept against her. Aria unexpectedly began to miss her younger siblings. She wondered what story they had been told or had told themselves about her disappearance. Aria felt more guilty for running out on them without explaining herself than she felt for anything. Her body remembered the weight of them leaning up against her, like Aston was doing now.

She took Aston’s limp hand in hers and thought to herself, “In this hand is the power to open or to close. And every moment is a crossroads. I hope he decides to open this hand instead of close it.” Aria could see how the bankruptcy of compassion that had plagued Aston’s life might make him choose to be hard and closed off to love and to life. After all, she was tempted to close off to it herself some days. But meeting Omkar had made her glad that she couldn’t find it in herself to do it.

Looking down at the baby fat still ornamenting Aston’s face, she wished that same failure upon him. Despite her youth, she had already found there to be more strength in softness after all.

CHAPTER 23

CHAPTER 23

Cars flowed down the highway. The tall palm trees bordering the roads were coddled by the wind. Aria and Omkar were headed for the ocean. Omkar was trying his best to focus on his surroundings and the navigation system on his phone, which was in the habit of barking directions a second too late for him to follow them. It was difficult to focus through the elation of having Aria next to him.

Aria was reserved because she was embarrassed. The truth was that she had never seen the ocean. The closest she had ever come was visiting Lake Michigan as a child. And since coming to LA, she had been so forced to focus on survival day to day, on foot, that she had not had any opportunity to travel west to see the ocean. Of course, she had not admitted it to Omkar because it made her feel classless.

“Are you too cold?” Omkar asked, his hand on the dial of the air conditioner, ready to make an adjustment.

“Nah, I’m OK,” Aria said, growing uncomfortable with the quiet between them. “Wanna play a game?”

“Yeah – I mean, yes, what kind of game?” Omkar asked.