“I’m not doing this with you. Not again.” Jason backed away, knowing X could kill him if he wished. There’d be a blade nearby, a shard of glass, a twist of wire …

X trailed languidly behind. “I did take pains to bring you here.”

“Tyra’s pain. My pain.”

“You’re upset. I understand. We can try again tomorrow.”

“Tomorrow will be no different.”

“Yet time is not our friend.”

“The electric chair. Yeah, I heard.” Jason kept moving: the second step, the third.

“If you knew my heart, you would feel differently.”

Jason climbed higher, and X watched him go, a smile on his face. “The heart, my young friend, and all the songs that play.”

21

An hour after we climbed from the creek, I was back in the car, and Becky, again, was leaning above me. The sun hung below the trees. The light was soft on her face. “This was good,” I said.

“Come anytime, Gibson French.”

Without intending it, my gaze slid to the house behind her. The porch had collapsed on one side. The screens were rusted and torn.

“Hey, handsome. Eyes front.” Becky touched my cheek, and turned my head. “It’s just a house. It’s not who I am.”

“Chance told me not to come.”

“And I told you, Chance is an idiot. Will you stay a little longer?”

“I need to go.”

“Important business?”

“Kind of. Yeah.”

A hint of doubt showed in her eyes. She sensed my unease, but misunderstood the reasons. “I’m a cool girl, you know. We can talk about other things. It doesn’t have to be so heavy.”

“I think you’re the coolest.”

“So let’s go somewhere. Sunset. Dinner. The place doesn’t matter.”

Her words made sense, but others did, too.

Be a man …

For once in your sheltered life …

“I’m being pushy,” she said. “And that’s not normally my thing. Just tell me you’re not blowing me off.”

“I’m not.”

“Is that a promise?”

“It is.”

She bent low, her elbows crossed on the window frame. “Tell me I’m beautiful.”

“You’re gorgeous.”

“Why should I believe you?”

“Because you’re a gorgeous, beautiful girl, especially in your underwear.”

She blushed and looked away, but was not unhappy. When she turned back, we kissed, her lips softly parted, her breath warm and sweet. When she drew back at last, the grin was in her eyes, and she held up two fingers.

My second kiss …

That’s what she meant.

I held up the same two fingers, then put the car in gear, and watched her dwindle in the dusty light. She shielded her eyes to watch me, too; and I considered how fast the world was changing. A week ago, life was the quarry, the dive, a few cold beers with Chance. Now there was Becky and Jason, my father and mother, a house full of lies.