He has paused behind an enormous aloe vera plant and a wall of bougainvillea dripping over a low wall to watch and feels it would be wrong to move until the Eucharist is completely finished, so he stays very still while the priest says the concluding prayers, then rushes off to the house so he’ll have some time to rest before supper. Justin is in the pool when he gets to the cottage, swimming back and forth with his face down in the water.

They have been in Key West three weeks now. Rain almost every evening or morning but there is hardly ever lightning like back home and sometimes Justin swims even during the rain showers. There are fewer guests now so Asher doesn’t worry so much about leaving him alone there. Sometimes Justin trails along behind Asher during the workday and helps. He loves seeing what disgusting things he can find in the rooms when people leave. But mostly he stays at the cottage, or in the pool. He does a lot of drawing. He has three sketchbooks full of drawings he won’t allow Asher to see.

“Hey,” Asher says, when Justin finally comes up for air. “It’s almost suppertime. You better go change clothes.”

He’s finally agreed to have supper at Bell’s, which Justin is excited about since he’s taken a liking to both Bell and Evona. He climbs out of the pool immediately and the water pours from the legs of his swimming trunks as he runs a beach towel over his hair.

“You can’t say too much about who we are at supper tonight,” Asher says, settling into a rocker, “and you especially can’t say our last name, even if you’re asked point-blank.”

“You want me to lie?”

“No,” Asher says, although that’s exactly what he’s telling Justin to do. “Just don’t volunteer it. That’s something they might ask me, but I can’t imagine anyone asking you.”

“And will you lie?”

“No,” Asher says, not knowing what he will do. “I’ll probably just tell them that’s my own business.”

“That’ll sound rude,” Justin tells him.

“Justin, listen to me.”

But then Asher can’t think of what to say. He is leaned down close with his eyes right on Justin’s but he needs a moment to gather his words.

“What is it?”

“I’m sorry I’ve done this. I know that it was wrong. You know that I don’t like lying. It’s wrong—”

“I know,” Justin says, as if to say: God, I’ve heard this shit about a thousand times. “Let’s go.”

When they sit down to eat at Bell’s she asks Asher if he will pray. He freezes. He has been trying to pray in his mind for so long now, finding only silence.

“I’ll say the blessing,” Justin says.

Evona lets out a delighted little laugh.