Oliverโs mouth hung open, tiny movements in his lower jaw, up and down, and Red imagined she could hear it, creaking at the hinges, creating the sound out of the emptiness of the static.โ
Oliver still didnโt say anything, so Reyna did.
โHis name was Jack Harvey, not Jack Something, and I knew him,โ she said.
Oliver blinked, slowly, the only muscle that moved anywhere on his body. โWhy did you never tell me?โ he said with a low growl, voice catching in
his throat. But that wasnโt the right question. โAnd how did you know Jack Harvey?โ
There it was, the right question. Redโs head ๏ฌicked toward Reyna, waiting for the answer. So was everyone else: Arthur, Simon, Maddy, all looking Reynaโs way, backing her into the corner by the front door with their eyes.
Reyna hugged her arms around herself, picking at the wrinkles in her sleeves.
โI knew Jack,โ she said, slowly, carefully, like her words might cause an explosion if she said them too hard. And, looking at Oliverโs face, they just might. โBecause we were together.โ
Simon blew out an awkward pu๏ฌ of air, hanging back, running his hands through his disheveled hair.
Reyna chewed her bottom lip, waiting for the explosion. But it didnโt come.
โTogether how?โ Oliver said, overenunciating the words, sharpening the consonants.
โTogether likeโฆโ Reynaโs voice cowered, shrinking beneath an outward breath. โPlease donโt make me say it.โ
โHow long?โ Oliver was too calm, too still, and Red shivered, the hairs standing up across the back of her neck.
โIโd known him a couple of years.โ Reyna sni๏ฌed. โMet him at the bar when I went with friends.โ
โThatโs not what I asked.โ
Reyna shook her head. โSince September. When we went back for fall semester.โ
Oliverโs eyes spooled in his head, working something out.
โFour months,โ he said, not a question. โYou were with him for four months behind my back.โ
โIโm sorry,โ Reyna cried. โI shouldnโt have done that to you. I know itโs awful, and Iโm so so sorry.โ
โAnd youโre telling me now,โ Oliver continued, still too calm, a clouded look in his eyes, the pupils too large and beetle-dark. โIn front of everyone here, in front of my little sister.โ
Maddy shrank in the booth.
โIโm sorry.โ Reyna hugged herself tighter. โI wish I could have told you at a better time, just you and me.โ She shook her head, strands of black clinging to her cheeks, wet with tears and sweat. โNo, I wish it never happened in the ๏ฌrst place. If I hadnโt been such a coward, if I had justโฆโ Her words failed, lips pressing together while she tried to get them back.
โIf you had just what?โ Oliver pressed, and Reyna winced, like he was pressing down on her neck.
โBroken up with you.โ She said it quietly, almost a whisper, staring at Oliver like there was no one else in the RV. And there wasnโt, not really.
Redโs mind was quiet for once, watching the scene, a strange feeling in her gut. Not guilt, or shame, or hunger, it was something older. Ancient. A primal instinct telling her to keep out of Oliverโs way. There was danger outside the RV, and now there was danger inside it.
A low bark of laughter from Oliver as he slapped his hand on the table, making the kitchen knife jump and the ๏ฌashlight roll toward Maddy. โWhat?โ he said, a deep smile splitting his face, crinkling the skin by his eyes. โYou would have chosenย himย over me?โ Another quick burst of sound from his throat, halfway between a laugh and a shout, the smile across his face twisting in at the ends, turning cruel.
โIโm sorry. I loved him,โ Reyna whispered, a pair of silent tears. Red backed up another step. Maybe Reyna shouldnโt have said that, not right here right now, but clearly sheโd been holding this in for a very long time. It only took a man with a ri๏ฌe to bring it to the surface.
Oliver was still smiling. Why was he still smiling? โWeโve been together two and a half years,โ he said.
โI know,โ Reyna cried. โAnd I do care about you, Oliver. A lot. But it was di๏ฌerent with him. It was easy.โ
โEasy, huh?โ Still smiling. Hand resting on the table where heโd smacked it, ๏ฌngers splayed, just a little too close to that sharp knife there. Red tensed.
โDi๏ฌerent,โ Reyna said, with a wet sni๏ฌ. โJack didnโt feel right about it, what we were doing. I told him I was going to break up with you, I said Iโd do it any day now.โ Her breath hitched in her chest. โI didnโt know we were going to his bar that day. If I had I would have tried to get us to watch the game somewhere else. I know thatโs not the problem here, itโs me, what I didโฆโ She trailed o๏ฌ, taking a new breath to come back stronger. โThatโs what he was saying to me in the parking lot. He said heโd waited long enough and I had to choose. I had to break up with you because it wasnโt fair to keep doing this.โ
Oliver didnโt speak yet, just that same smile, blinking for her to keep talking.
โAnd then you came out and saw us, and I panicked. It wasnโt how I wanted everything to come out, with both of you there. But I knew it was the
moment, whether I wanted it or not, and I had to make a decision, there and then. I had to decide. And, I donโt knowโฆโ She wiped her nose on the other sleeve this time. โI loved Jack, I knew that, but in that moment my head was telling me he wasnโt the smart choice, the practical choice, because he worked in a bar and thatโs all he ever wanted to do. Whereas youโฆโ She paused, daring a glance at Oliver.
โIโm going to be somebody,โ Oliver said, showing too many teeth on that last syllable. โSo what, Reyna, it was a battle between your head and your heart, was it?โ he mocked her, but Reyna nodded, slowly, up and down.
โI was a coward.โ She bit her lip. โI made my choice and I pretended not to know him, that he was a random guy bothering me in the parking lot, like you thought. And then everything happened.โ Reyna winced, like she was seeing it all again, playing just below the surface of her red-raw eyes. โI couldnโt ๏ฌnd the courage to do it, to choose him. And he was so hurt after, he texted me that night, saying he couldnโt believe Iโd pretended not to know who he was. And then I didnโt hear from him, untilโฆuntilโฆโ She didnโt need to ๏ฌnish, they knew the rest. โHeโs dead, and itโs my fault, because I was a coward and let it all happen.โ
Red shu๏ฌed, ๏ฌinching as she made a rustle that drew Oliverโs eyes, thinking over it all, sifting through. Reyna hadnโt killed Jack, though, had she? It was Oliver who hit him, who caused the slow bleed in his brain. Neither of them meant for him to die. But no one could say Reyna was the one whoโd killed him, right? She loved him, and she blamed herself, and that must be a terrible weight to carry. Almost likeโ
โYes, Reyna, it is all your fault,โ Oliver replied after a long pause, voice clipped and ๏ฌat. โItโs all your fault. You made me do it.โ
โI didnโt, I didnโtโฆโ Reyna pu๏ฌed out her cheeks to control her staccato breath. โIโm sorry for everything. I didnโt mean to hurt anyone.โ She looked away from Oliver, eyes skipping from Maddy to Red, as though seeing them for the ๏ฌrst time, stepping away from that horrible dark memory into the horrible dark here and now, in this RV. โHe had four brothers,โ she explained. โI never met them, but it could be them. He said one of them liked to hunt deer. Maybe they found our messages on his phone, wondered why I
never reached out, or went to the funeral. Or maybe they suspected there was more to the story, about how heโd hurt his head, about that last message he sent me. Thatโs the secret they want: how Jack died.โ
The static seemed to grow louder then, in Redโs grip, even though it couldnโt have. She was keeper of the voice, and did they now know whose voice it was? Waiting for them on channel three.
Oliver brought his hands together, like a crack of thunder or the clap of a ri๏ฌe. Twice. Two shots. The sound burying itself inside Redโs bones.
He pushed up from his booth. โWell, Reyna, you donโt have to worry aboutย ๏ฌnding the courageย now.โ He coughed, a smile still stretched across his lips, splitting the near-red ๏ฌesh into seams. โYou and I are over. I could always do better than you.โ
She nodded. โIโm sorry, Oliver. I really am.โ
He brushed o๏ฌ her apology, looking away before she was ๏ฌnished. Reyna was no longer welcome on his side of the RV, in the us ofย usย versusย them.ย A cold shiver passed up Redโs spine, even though it was hot in here now, sweat prickling by the seams of her shirt where they pressed into her armpits. The six of them cooking inside this tin can. But the shiver meant something, a realization that Red could put into words. Now there was no one left who could control Oliver. Unless MaddyโฆRed tried to catch Maddyโs eyes, but she wasnโt looking, picking at the loose skin by her ๏ฌngernails.
โIf thatโs why weโre hereโโReyna was speaking, looking between Arthur and Simon nowโโI will face the consequences. Iโll tell him what happened, what I did. Iโll end this.โ
โOh no you wonโt,โ Oliver snapped. The smile was gone now, but his mouth wouldnโt close, hanging open between words. Pupils still too large in his once-golden-brown eyes. โYouโre not the one who hit him, I am. If theyโre looking for a killer, then itโs me theyโre looking for, not you. And Iโm not dying because you decided to fuck a bartender, Reyna.โ A globule of spit ๏ฌew out with her name. He pointed at the walkie-talkie in Redโs hands. โWeโre not telling him anything. This is your fault, Reyna, no one elseโs. If anyone should have to walk out of this RV it should be you. But I am not, are you listening?! We donโt tell them a thing.โ
โWe have to,โ Reyna said, a quake in her lower lip. She bit down on it. โItโs the right thing to do, tell him what he wants to know. He said heโd let the others go. He might let us go too, if he knows it was all an accident, that Jack wasnโt supposed to die.โ
โI donโt know,โ Simon said, uncertainly. โHe killed Don and Joyce out there for nothing. I donโt think heโs the forgiving type.โ
โNo,โ Oliver growled. He moved past Red, toward the kitchen, glancing at the timer on the oven. โItโs three-forty-๏ฌve now. We are going to sit here until sunrise, until six a.m., and then his game is over. Thatโs what weโre going to do.โ
โI canโt, Oliver,โ Reyna said, keeping her tone steady, treading around the explosion again. โSomeone might get shot. I canโt live with that. Red, can you pass me the walkie-talkie, please?โ
โNo, Red,โ Oliver barked. โGive me the walkie-talkie.โ He stretched out his hand, open and waiting.
Red looked, from Reyna to Oliver, the walkie-talkie hissing in her cupped hands, like a coiled snake, like a warning.
Here she was again, standing in the middle of them, trapped in both lines of sight. She clutched the walkie-talkie to her chest.
โRed, donโt be an idiot,โ Oliver hissed, trying to lower his voice. โGive me the walkie-talkie. Iโm in charge here. You know me. You donโt know Reyna. None of us do, apparently.โ
โRed, please.โ Reynaโs voice in her other ear. โIโm trying to do the right thing. To save us.โ
Redโs eyes jumped to Maddyโs, but there were no answers for her there, only fear, widening, widening.
โRed?โ
โRed?โ
Left or right.
Move or donโt move. Reyna or Oliver.
