Chapters (46)
- Cover
- Other Titles
- Title Page
- Copyright
- Dedication
- Friday
- ONE
- TWO
- THREE
- FOUR
- Saturday
- FIVE
- SIX
- SEVEN
- EIGHT
- NINE
- TEN
- Sunday
- ELEVEN
- TWELVE
- THIRTEEN
- FOURTEEN
- FIFTEEN
- SIXTEEN
- SEVENTEEN
- EIGHTEEN
- NINETEEN
- TWENTY
- TWENTY-ONE
- TWENTY-TWO
- TWENTY-THREE
- TWENTY-FOUR
- TWENTY-FIVE
- Monday
- TWENTY-SIX
- TWENTY-SEVEN
- TWENTY-EIGHT
- TWENTY-NINE
- THIRTY
- THIRTY-ONE
- THIRTY-TWO
- THIRTY-THREE
- THIRTY-FOUR
- THIRTY-FIVE
- EPILOGUE
- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
“What do you want, a medal?” Pink bubble gum fumes waft from her mouth. “Finn Parker: World’s Greatest Daughter.”
Nicki Parker: World’s Biggest Pain in the Ass. But Finn is trying to make an effort, so she keeps her mouth shut. When she turns off her phone and raises her head, Nicki has left the room, the scent of strawberries lingering in the air behind her.
After a minute, Finn gets up and begins to move through the house, which folds her into its body as though she never left. It’s all so much smaller than she remembers, so familiar but unfamiliar, like rereading a beloved childhood book as an adult. The stairs creaking in all the same spots they used to, the railing wiggling at the fourth post as usual as she leans against it. Yellowing plants in the hallway, ugly oil paintings on the walls, framed school pictures gathering dust on every surface. All the things that are supposed to be there, a movie set for a Typical Canadian Family. It could be anyone’s house, anyone’s family living here. But it’s not. It’s hers.
In her parents’ room, Finn finds her three nieces watching a documentary about sharks on the Discovery Channel. They don’t hear her come in – the television is loud and London is worked up about something, her hands whipping through the air, her cherry heart of a mouth pouting between breaths, her Parker-grey eyes wide and earnest as she stares at the TV while her twin sisters sit face to face, painting each other’s toenails.
“They estimate that, like, up to a hundred million sharks are killed by people every year, due to commercial and recreational fishing,” London says. She pauses, pulling on a pink braid she has woven into her long black hair. “Compare that with the 4.3 humans that sharks kill every year. That’s, like, twenty-five million times the killing, you know?”
“Uh-huh,” say Milan and Vienna simultaneously, concentrating on their toes. The three of them seem so grown up it makes Finn ache with remorse. When she last saw them, three years ago, the twins were still playing with their identical American Girl dolls, and London was obsessed with the Disney Channel.