Most people drove over to Moor House, but Wit and I grabbed an umbrella, and I led him down the forest footpath Iโd taken to assassinate his father. We were both armed with our gunsโWit so he could carry out his latest plan and me to keep up appearances. No one could know about my newest strategy.ย Because itย isย a strategy, I kept telling myself.ย Without an assassin on his tail, Wit can eliminate as many players as he wants, narrow down the pool of players.
Then, eventually, I could kill him. Not now, but eventually.
He was nervous, thoughโmore nervous than Iโd ever seen him, more nervous thanย me. Fidgeting and swiveling his head every few seconds. โHey, relax,โ I told him. โBasically no one knows about this trail.โ
โBasically?โ
โClaire,โ I said. โAnd the dogs, probablyโbut other than that, only Claire.โ
A single nod.
My stomach knotted.ย Maybe I should tell him, I thought.ย Maybe I should tell him itโs me, and then we can make some kind of deal. An addendum to our pact, some kind of deal where we work together so itโs the two of us in the final showdown.
But it was too late. He had asked me directly if he was my next target, and Iโd directly said no. I couldnโt take that lie back.
โItโs going to be fine, Wit,โ I said, swallowing hard. His name sounded not quite right coming out of my mouth. โYou are cool, calm, collected, andย clever. Donโt let the paranoia get to you. Doย notย let it get to you. All right?โ โAll right,โ he said and let out a long breath. His face was scorched with
sunburn, but somehow it still looked as pale as the gray rainy day.
โWeโre going to go in there,โ I said in my bestย Rally the troops!ย voice, โand do what needs to be done. Iโm going to avoid Ian like the best of them, and your target wonโt even know what hit him.โ
โGames and gumbo, too,โ Wit added. โDonโt forget.โ
โRight.โ I smiled. โSo letโs not keep everyone waiting.โ
โWe can for one more sec,โ he said and hooked an arm around my waist before leaning in to kiss me. It was a light flutter of a kiss, but suddenly I wanted more, climbing up his strong, wiry frame until he held me and I had my arms around his neck. Now we were truly, deeplyย kissing. I had no idea where the umbrella had gone; neither of us was holding it anymore.
I kissed him one last time, and then Wit set me down and we continued down the pathway, both dripping by the time it spit us out in Moor Houseโs side yard. There were several people around the corner with their water guns, staking out the front lawn for new arrivals. Uncle Brad and Nicole Duprรฉ were among them. I didnโt see Ian.
โOkay, this leads to the downstairs bathroom,โ I told Wit as I pushed up one of the first-floor windows. โReady?โ
He nodded and gave me a boost inside, then hoisted himself up after me. There were several toothbrushes on the side of the sink and towels hanging on the back of the closed doorโWit and I used them to dry off a little. We stowed our water guns in the shower, the chevron-patterned curtain making a snaking noise when I pulled it shut.
A hundred voices swirled once we slipped into the hallway, whose walls were whipped-butter yellow and decorated not only with Fox family photographs but also beautiful watercolor landscapes. โNo way,โ Wit
whispered, seeing the initials BGF in the corner of one painting. โUncle
Bradย did these?โ
I nodded. โHe has many talents.โ
And so did Jeannie Duprรฉ, the smell of gumbo embracing us once we made it into the kitchen. Right away, I detected onions, peppers, and sausage. Pots and pans covered the stove, and my mom had thrown herself into helping, chopping up vegetables on the counter. I smiledโshe loved to cook, but we had ordered a lot of takeout after Claire died. Now, though, it was like sheโd gotten her groove back. I remembered almost falling to the floor several months ago when Iโd come home from Benโs house to find her in the kitchen making my favorite fried chicken for dinner.
Wit noticed me watching her. โThatโs called the trinity,โ he said. โOnions, bell peppers, and celeryโthe essentials.โ
โOh, Wit!โ His stepmother spotted us. โThank goodness! I already have a few pots ready, but more people are coming, so Iโve just sent Michael and Oscar out to make more groceriesโฆโ
โBuy groceries,โ he translated for me.
โWill you and Miss Meredith smother those once Liz is finished prepping them?โ
โMiss Meredith?โ I gave Wit an amused half smile as my mom confirmed the trinity was ready to go.
Wit rubbed the back of his neck. โYeah,โ he said. โItโs what my dad and Jeannie call you.โ He held up his hands like he was in trouble. โNot my idea.โ
I fully smiled and shook my head, remembering Oscar Witry tellingย Miss Meredithย good luck after Iโd assassinated him. โWhat does โsmotherโ mean?โ
โIt means weโre gonna cook this stuff in more onions.โ He accepted the cutting board from my mom. โOn high heat, for aย longย time.โ
Sarah was already at the stove, stirring a beige-colored substance in a saucepan. โJeannie!โ she called when the beige began rapidly turning brown. โThe roux! Itโsโโ
โโruined,โ Wit said, then cocked his head. โNot for the first time, Iโm guessing?โ
She huffed. โItโs only flour and oil,โ she said, pushing her glasses up her nose. โYou think itโd be so simple.โ A groan. โThis is my third try.โ
After Wit and I did some successful smothering, we served ourselves gumbo from a ready and waiting pot and searched for games to play. Weโd decided on our walk here that we wouldnโt play the same one.ย Distance, weโd agreed. Wit wanted to pull off a move today, and it was best if I wasnโt anywhere near him if and when it happened.
While he wandered off to play Scrabble with Wink, Honey, and a few Duprรฉs, I found Pravika, Eli, Jake, and Luli setting up Monopoly on the screened-in porch. As banker, Eli was counting out the money while Luli organized the property deeds.
Luli, I thought.ย Good.
I needed to talk to herโreallyย talk to her. Yes, Iโd apologized on Monday for ignoring her texts and stuff, but after hiking with Wit this morning and telling him about my friend troubles, I felt like she deserved something deeper. An explanation, to make sure the door between us could be fully reopened and stay open for a long time. I remembered when she, Claire, and I were little girlsโthe way we raced around The Farm together with our never-ending giggles. One of my favorite memories was the night weโd pranked Jake and Eli, drawing all over their faces with lipstick while they slept. I felt a twinge now at the thought of forever losing that closeness. Iโd lost Claire; I couldnโt lose anyone else.
โHey, Mer,โ Pravika said now. โThimble, boot, or top hat?โ
โThimble, please,โ I replied and took the empty chair next to Jake.
โYour taste buds arenโt even ready,โ he warned as I raised a spoonful of gumbo to my mouth and blew on it. โNot. Even. Ready.โ
โOh, wow.โ I actually moaned after my first bite, sweet and spicy all at once. The onions, peppers, celery, sausage, shrimpโa burst of fire in my mouth. Somehow I couldย tasteย the passion that had gone into cooking it. โThis isโฆโ
โLuliโs had three bowls,โ Eli said, and I noticed all of theirs were empty. I scooped up more from mine. Perhaps I would have three bowls myself.
From my other side, Luli playfully scowled. โCan we start now?โ
โI have to talk to you later,โ I whispered as Eli started dealing the money. โAfter the game?โ
Her eyes sparked, probably thinking I meant Assassinโthat I had some counterintelligence to share. Pinpricks needled the back of my neck. โOkay,โ she whispered back. โCanโt wait.โ
* * *
Unfortunately, Monopoly was way less exciting than the gumbo. It played out as it usually did between the five of us: Jake quietly bought up all the cheap properties and built hotels, Luli landed on free parking a hundred times, and I found myself in jail over and over, all while Eli and Pravika kept proposing ridiculous property trades. Eventually, we abandoned the game altogether. โWhat do you guys think?โ Eli asked. โShould I go to the yacht club and just introduce myself?โ
โNot today,โ Luli said and gestured outside to the current break in the rain. โIโd bet all my Monopoly money that sailing was canceled.โ
Eli rolled his eyes. Heโd been bummed about my Edgartown Books recon, the bookseller making lunch date plans. โThereโs always your sailing instructor,โ I had said to cheer him up. โYou called him the man of your dreams, remember?โ
โYes,โ heโd responded. โBecause he isโฆโ
โDo it,โ I said now. โSo we can finally find out this guyโs name.โ
โYeah, and who knows?โ Pravika said. โMaybe itโll be love at first sight and heโll come to the weddingโโ
I shot her a look.ย Abort, Pravika. Abort.
โHey,โ Luli said, back from the bathroom. โWhereโd Jake go?โ
โMerโs place,โ Eli replied, gazing wistfully through the screen at Jobโs Neck Pond in the distance, which was of course distastefully obscured by the Nylon Condo Complex. Hopefully everyoneโs stuff wasnโt ruined from the rain. โTo get the old chessboard.โ
None of us were very good chess players, but we had decided to give it yet another chance. I knew I shouldโve gone to the Annex to get the board myself, but Jake had jumped up and volunteered first.
Andโฆ
โHeโs been gone a pretty long time, hasnโt he?โ Luli commented. I suspected Witโs water gun was no longer in the shower. It wasnโt a coincidence that heโd joined the Scrabble game, which was being played in the living roomโฆthe roomย everyoneย passed through when entering and exiting the house.
Eli shrugged. โMaybe he needed to stop and take a dump.โ Luli and Pravika groaned. โEliโฆโ
โWhat?โ He patted his stomach. โThis gumboโs strong stuffโโ Shouts from the other room cut him off:
โOh my god!โ
โLook outside!โ
โHeโs out of his mind!โ
Our foursome flung ourselves from our chairs and hurried into the living room, where family members and wedding guests were pressed up against the windows. โMeredith!โ My dad waved me over, and I squeezed in to see the driveway, where all the cars were parked. Wit was among them, popped up through the Raptorโs sunroof. He had Claireโs monster gun strapped to
his back, but right now, he was in the middle of launching a rainbow of water balloons at his target.
โDid you give him the truck keys?โ I asked my dad.
โI mightโve left them in the wheel well,โ he said lightly. โDid you buy him the balloons?โ
โTouchรฉ,โ I muttered, becauseย @sowitty17 had requested them when Iโd gone to the store yesterday afternoonโฆand now he was pelting poor Jake with water balloon after water balloon.
I tried not to smile, but it was perfect, right down to the sunroofโan homage to how weโd first met. Plenty of people were laughing, but they had no idea that the takedown was an inside joke, something secret and special between Wit and me. I liked it that way, liked that certain things were only for us.
The group had a field day when Jake, dripping wet with bits of colorful rubber clinging to his clothes, came inside once heโd relinquished his target to Wit. โTowel, please?โ he said. โCan somebody grab me a towel?โ
โComing right up!โ I said, since it was the least I could do.
Then I felt Luliโs hand on my arm. โIโll help you,โ she said in a pleasant voice, but the expression on her face was pureย fury. Dark narrowed eyes, scrunched nose, pursed lipsโeven a vein bulging in her neck. I knew she would be angry, butย thisย angry? She pointed above us to the second floor. โThe fluffiest ones are up there.โ
โCool.โ I tried to smile. Earlier, Iโd wanted to talk to her, but not like this. Not when it looked like she wanted to actually avenge her brotherโs death. โLetโs go.โ
Her face did not soften. โYes, letโs.โ
My lungs expanded, but they did not contract when I followed her upstairs.
