A huge wave crashes against the barrier behind them and sends a wall of spray up into the air. The tourists scatter with peals of delight.

Then the sky opens up, allowing the rain to pound down like coins, and the tourists squeal and run for shelter. But Justin and Asher do not move. They stand very close near the low concrete wall and look out toward Cuba while the rain pounds against them. The water is rocking and white-capping but the rain is warm and the wind coming off the ocean is somehow comforting. An occasional wave laps itself up over the little wall and splashes them, overwhelming the air with saltiness.

Then the rain moves on past the island, out over the Gulf of Mexico.

“Luke is here,” Asher says.

“Uncle Luke?” Justin watches the darkening water. “How do you know?”

“He sent me some postcards from here. It’s why I chose this place to come,” Asher says. “When we came, I wasn’t absolutely sure. But now, I know. He’s here. We’re going to find him.”

“If y’all are so close why’d he leave?”

“We fell out.”

“Why?” Justin’s eyes are on him now.

“It’s complicated—”

“Why didn’t he come back when I was born? Didn’t he want to meet me?”

“He didn’t know you existed.”

“He should’ve been checking in on you, then,” Justin says.

“Well, it’s more complicated than that, buddy.”

“Why?”

Asher doesn’t reply. He watches the darkness gathering out over the ocean. “We better head on back and check on Shady. It’s late.”

When they are settled back on the scooter, Justin holds on to his father as they speed away. He is watching the sky again, his head leaned back. That’s the way people should pray, he thinks. Instead of bowing their heads, tucking their chins into their chests. They should lean back and expose their faces to the sky. Justin can see the clouds as they meander away, roiling and turning from green to a deep gray, the yellow behind deepening into the dark rose of the beginnings of night.

10

10

The breeze from the Atlantic laces through the palm fronds. The plants breathe in the darkness, moving closer to the cottages in the nighttime, easing their vines and tendrils and green points toward the walls of the houses. The pool water is still in its concrete rectangle.

Asher and Justin sit on the porch, playing rummy. Shady has spread himself on the wicker love seat next to Justin, who keeps his hand on Shady’s head when he isn’t making a play. He has inherited his card-shark abilities from his grandmother, as Zelda is an expert rummy player and taught Asher how to play. Cards had not been allowed in Asher’s house as a child.