“I guess he liked spy movies. He probably would’ve loved Heath Hall.” I patted the mask on the dashboard.

“The Hunt for Red October. Is it any good?”

“Never seen it.”

The last thing he brought out was the squirt gun, which he immediately shot at me. A spray of water hit my hair. “It’s loaded. Your mom actually loaded it.”

“I see that.” I wiped the side of my face where it had dripped.

He shot me again.

I reached over and hit him.

He laughed. “I thought you liked water.”

“Ha-ha.”

“Does this have to do with the spy movies?”

“No.”

“He liked water? Like you?”

“Nope.”

He dropped the gun back in the box. “You going to keep me in suspense?”

“Remember when you met my dad?”

“Of course.”

“When you left, the first thing my dad said to me was, ‘I’ve never met someone who reminded me more of your brother.’”

He squeezed his eyes shut. “And then you hated me even more.”

“No. You already bugged me. I guess that was when I realized I would’ve hated my brother had I known him. And that made me mad at you, yes.”

“So see, your brother wasn’t perfect. He was an irresponsible goofball with no idea about his future.” He nodded toward the squirt gun, the representation of that playful nature.

“He knew he wasn’t going to have a future.”

Again Jackson squeezed his eyes shut and put the lid back on the box. “Sorry.”

“No, don’t be. Here’s the thing. My whole life, I’ve never felt close to my brother. Never felt like I knew him at all. I knew facts about him but couldn’t picture him. Then you came along in all your annoyingness and my dad put a personality to him. I hated that at first. And if I’m being honest, I kind of reveled in it too because I realized that I wanted to hate him. But now. Now that I know you better, I know that my brother and I would’ve been great friends.” For the first time, maybe ever, I felt my eyes prick with tears over the thought of missing out on that friendship with him. “So I know this is weird, but thank you for that.”

He slowly set the box back on the seat between us. “Great. I just got put in the ‘he’s like a brother to me’ category.”

I laughed. “You’re good for me.”

“How so?”

“Because you can make me laugh.” Especially when I had just been on the verge of tears.

“Oh, did you think that was a joke?”

I laughed again. “See?”

Nirvana came on the radio and Jackson turned up the volume.

Thirty-One

Considering it was only ten thirty, the neighborhood was quiet. The porch light was the only thing that lit the house. All the other windows were dark.

“Where are we?” he asked.