“Bri, baby, you need to take my Taser if y’all are gonna be out in these woods,” Mom said as I followed her inside. “There are wild animals out there.”

“You want me to use the Taser on wild animals?” I started to laugh but realized she wasn’t joking. “Mom, how’s that supposed to work?”

Mo shook her head. “We’re not tasing wild animals. We should be trying to make friends with them. We’re in their territory now.”

Mom sucked her teeth. “Make friends with them? Who are you, the Black Snow White?”

“Just you wait,” said Mo. “By the end of the summer, I’m gonna have deer and baby bunnies eating carrots out my hand.”

Mom shook her head, then turned to me. “What were you and Karter up to out there? Getting that garden in shape?”

“It’s a mess, but we put a dent in it today.”

“You need help?” asked Mo. “Me and Mom could come out there and help.”

“Don’t volunteer me for that,” Mom said quickly. “You wanna go out there, be my guest. But keep me out of it. Love you. Bri, baby, you know I do, but I’m stayin’ put.”

“It’s okay. Karter can help, and I don’t mind being out there by myself. It’s kind of nice. Gives me a chance to”—I looked at Mo—“to stretch.”

Mo nodded and Mom seemed happy that she didn’t have to go outside. I’d shared more with Karter than I had with them, and I felt extremely guilty about that. They’d never done anything but be supportive of me in every possible way. But if Karter got upset or decided it was too much, he could walk away. I’d be crushed, but I’d find a way to get over it. My parents couldn’t walk away from me—they wouldn’t want to. It was better to try and make sure they never had to choose between loving me and being afraid.

Karter came over every day for the next week. I worried his mom would make him stick to his shifts at the bookshop but she covered for him most days. He helped me rig up a plastic tarp to collect dew for the poison plants, but I never brought him into the Poison Garden. He didn’t want to be back there, anyway. He coughed every time he got close to the moon gate even though there was nothing poisonous in the air around him.