Playing Monopoly with his sister hadn’t quite satisfied the hunger for emotional connection that Max couldn’t articulate to himself, let alone Chloe. But it had done a decent job of distracting him from his panicky dread at the fact that society was collapsing and nobody in the house seemed to have any clue what to do about it.
By the time Mom came home, he owned three houses on Oriental Avenue and was starting to build on St. James Place. But Chloe had just consolidated control over the entire upper-middle-class quadrant from Atlantic to Pennsylvania, and a series of unlucky rolls not only halted Max’s construction spree, but reduced him to mortgaging undeveloped properties to make rent when their parents’ fight erupted in the kitchen.
Gameplay slowed while they monitored the argument in the next room.
“How come Mom’s not yelling?” Max asked.
“I don’t know. It’s weird. Dad’s really losing his shit, though.”
After the fighting died down and they went back to the game, the momentum swung decisively against Max. He’d been forced to liquidate half of his houses when Dad emerged from the kitchen, zipping up his raincoat and looking defeated.
“Sorry about the yelling.”
“It’s all good, Daddy,” Chloe told him.
“We’re, uh, not going to leave for a while. I’m heading into town right now. Whatever you guys do, don’t leave the house. Okay?”
“Okay.”
“Sure thing!”
“And keep an eye on your mom. She might be having kind of a hard time.”
“Okay.”
“We love you, Daddy!”
“I love you, pumpkin! Love you, too, Max!”
Max didn’t reply. After Dad left, Chloe gave her brother some unsolicited advice. “You should tell him you love him.”
“Why?”
“It’s an easy way to get on his good side. Mom, too.”
“When have you ever been on Mom’s good side?”
Chloe frowned. “True. But it’s still good advice.”
Two turns later, their mother came into the room, commented approvingly on the fact that they were spending quality time together, and asked if anyone needed anything to eat. Given the dismal state of their food inventory, both Max and Chloe declined.
“Let me know if you want me to make you anything,” Mom said. “I’m just going to head downstairs for a bit. Make sure there’s no supplies down there that I overlooked.”
“Okay.”
“Great! We love you!”
“I love you, too!”
Then she was gone.
“See, that was a perfect opportunity. Why didn’t you say ‘I love you’?”
Max shrugged. “I dunno. Just didn’t feel like it.”
“Promise me you’ll start doing it.”
“Why?”
“Just because.”
“Whatever. Roll the dice.”
Then Chloe got even more weird. She started staring into space, and when Max landed on a built-up Marvin Gardens and would’ve had to mortgage one of his full sets of properties to make the payment, she told him not to worry about it.
“Seriously?”
“Yeah . . . it’s fine.”
“Are you quitting on me?”
“No. It’s just . . . capitalism sucks.”
“Whatever. Your turn.”
Instead of rolling the dice, Chloe stood up. “I need to use the bathroom.”
On her way out, she paused and looked back at him. “I love you!”
“I love you, too,” he cooed while rolling his eyes.
“Say it like you mean it. Even if you don’t.”
“Leave me alone!” He actually did mean it. He just didn’t have any practice at saying it.
“C’mon!”
“I love you! Have fun taking a shit.”
A minute had passed before it occurred to him to wonder why she’d gone upstairs without bringing a bucket to flush the toilet.
Then he heard the rattle of the garage door.
He jumped up and ran for the mudroom. When he reached the garage, she was already in the driveway, walking her bike and wearing her overstuffed backpack.
“Hey!”
She flinched at the sight of him. “Shhhh!”
He considered yelling for Mom. But he stayed quiet.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I just can’t deal. I’ll come back when it’s over.”
“Where you going?”
“A friend’s. You don’t know him. It’s a long story.”
Max stared at her in wounded disbelief. He’d just made his first good-faith effort to connect with his sister in years. It was hard not to take her bailing out personally.
“I love you,” she said.
“Fuck you! Then don’t leave.”
She winced. “I’m sorry. I just have to. Please wait at least five minutes before you tell Mom.”
Max watched her disappear down Willis Road. The panicky feeling was already starting to percolate in his stomach again. He lowered the garage door behind her and started to count back from five minutes.