“Remember when Percy pushed you off the dock? Remember how mad you got?”

“I’m surprised you remember; you were too busy staring at Percy’s ass.”

“He had on really tight shorts,” Shaw said. “Sue me.”

North snorted again.

“We could go skinny dipping.”

The thought of being naked in that brown water, of kicking his legs down where . . . something could swim past him, made North shiver.

“Oh my gosh.” Shaw’s eyes were wide. “Oh my gosh.”

“Stop.”

“You don’t know how to swim.”

“Fuck that. I used to swim a mile every day at the Y.”

Narrowing his eyes, Shaw pushed back a strand of reddish-brown hair. “You’re afraid of the lake.”

“I’m not afraid of the lake.”

“It’s totally safe.”

North just shook his head, trying not to get into it, but the words slipped out before he could stop them: “Not totally.”

“How is it not safe?”

“Just drop it, Shaw.”

“No, I want to know. Is it, like, bacteria? Do you have a cut or something that might get infected?”

“Jesus, no. That’s gross.”

“Then what?”

“I don’t know, Shaw. We live in a state with about a million poisonous water moccasins. What could go wrong swimming in a muddy lake?”

“Venomous.”

“What?”

Shaw propped himself on one elbow. “Venomous. Animals are venomous. Plants are poisonous. Maybe spiders are poisonous too. They’re kind of a gray area.”

“Venomous. Poisonous. Who the fuck cares? I don’t want one biting me.”

“You’ll be fine.”

“I know I’ll be fine. I’m not getting in the water. That’s how I know I’ll be fine.”

“You’re honestly scared.” Shaw laughed, then clapped a hand over his mouth. “Sorry, it’s just—I don’t know. I’ve been swimming here since I was a kid. I never even thought about it. I mean, North. You’ll be fine.”

“I said I know I’ll be fine.”

Shaw laughed again, and the laughter made North think of Percy-fucking-whatever his name was shoving North into the cool, brown water. North had sputtered and splashed and frantically paddled toward the dock’s ladder, and the Chouteau bros had pointed and laughed and jostled each other with how much fucking fun it was.

“Go ahead,” North said. “Laugh. See how hard you’re fucking laughing when a gator bites your ass.”

Shaw’s whole face was drawn with surprise, almost cartoonish in its expression. Then he started laughing even harder. “North, there is absolutely no way an alligator is in the lake.”

“Oh yeah? The Post had a story about a gator just outside of Joplin. That’s not even three hundred miles away. Global fucking warming, Shaw. And those gators can fucking move.”

“I swear on my mother’s grave: there are no gators in that lake.”

“Your mother is alive, dipshit. And I know what the Post said. Read the newspaper for once in your life.”