All Good Children - Catherine Austen [98]
“What are you going to do with us?” Mom asks.
He smiles at her and bows his head. “I’m going to ask you to take our picture in front of this tent and then I’m going to let you go meet your friends.”
“And our stuff?” Dallas asks.
“You can have your stuff.”
“And my tent?” I ask.
He shakes me by the shoulder again, smiles and says, “You can have your tent.”
My cousin Rebecca embraces me, full and hard like I’m her long lost brother. She’s older than I expected, well past thirty. She’s dark, like Mom, but tall and regal. “Happy Birthday,” she tells me. “I’m so glad you made it.”
“Oh my god,” Mom says. “It’s past midnight. Happy Birthday, Max.” She hugs me hard and long, shuddering in my arms.
“Hey hey, don’t cry, Mom,” I say. I hold her away from me and look in her eyes. “You got us here, right? We’re okay. Don’t cry.”
She sniffles and nods, steps back toward Rebecca.
I turn to Dallas, who’s watching us sadly. I open my arms wide. “What? No birthday hug, Dad?”
He smiles and slams my shoulder softly. “Happy Birthday, Max. Glad we made it.” He looks around the wet dark nowhere and nods nervously, like he’s wondering what the hell we do now.
Rebecca holds out her hand to him. “How do you do?” she asks. He’s about to explain who he is, but Mom shakes her head and points to Ally, then back to the border station. He nods and says to Rebecca, “Nice to meet you.”
She kisses Ally on the forehead and cheeks. She goes so far as to pick her up, but she puts her down quickly when the zombie becomes evident. She turns to Mom, hugs her again. “I forgot how much you look like Mom,” she says.
While they talk about Aunt Sylvia, Rebecca’s mother, the passenger door of Rebecca’s car opens up and a girl steps out and leans on the hood.
“Is that—?” I say. “That looks like—” I can’t say it. I can’t let myself hope it.
Rebecca looks over her shoulder and smiles. “You’re not the first family here from New Middletown. I hope you don’t mind that I brought her. She wanted to come.” She waves the girl over.
Dallas and I moan at the same time. My heart flutters in my chest.
Pepper walks over, smiling shyly. She looks beautiful. A little skinny, and shorter than I remembered. Either I’ve had a growth spurt or I never realized how tiny she is. She stuffs her hands in her pockets like she’s afraid to reach out with them. Her eyes shine.
“Oh my god,” Dallas says.
“You’re normal,” I add.
“Hey.” She looks down at her feet and back at me. “I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you. My parents made me promise. I almost told you that last day with Xavier. I could have sworn you were normal, but I couldn’t take the chance, you know?” Maybe she’s worried that I’ll say, “No, I don’t know. You shouldn’t have left me.” But I don’t say that.
“How did you know we were coming?” I ask.
“There’s a big push up here to get people out. There are support groups in almost every city. People pass on names in case anybody can help sponsor someone. Dad told me you were named a couple of weeks ago. We found Rebecca right away and we’ve just been waiting for you.” She smiles radiantly and I love her for it. I haven’t seen a girl really smile since the shots.
“I can’t believe you’re here,” I say.
“Same here.” She takes her hands out of her pockets and opens her arms. We hug awkwardly. She pulls away, but not too far, and asks, “What about Dallas?”
I realize that she thinks it’s my dead father hovering at my shoulder all this time. I shake my head slowly and say, “Dallas didn’t make it.”
Dallas cuffs me.
Pepper cringes. “Poor Dallas.”
“You always had a crush on him, didn’t you?” Dallas asks.
Pepper gives my dad a very weird look.
“Don’t be embarrassed,” he says. “A lot of girls have crushes on him.” He smiles, beams so brightly you can just make him out beneath his disguise.
Pepper steps back, her hand to her mouth.
“Not bad, huh?” Dallas says in own voice.
She laughs and hugs him, a big warm hug not at all like the awkward one she gave me.
“Did you?” I ask, totally miffed. “Did you really have a crush on Dallas?”
She laughs some more and hugs