Chapter 31

Better Offer

One afternoon just a few days later, I hear voices coming from the front room. I realize that Victoria is starting to shout. I believe she and Aidan are having a fight. Occasionally they bicker, but something about this is different. Victoria’s voice strains with real anger.

When I round the corner, I see Victoria and Aidan standing in the center of the living room. Victoria is holding up her phone toward Aidan. He stands with his hands out in front of him and an expression of disbelief.

“Why?” Victoria’s eyes shine with fury. “Why did she post this photo of the two of you at the party? Her arm is around you. She drew a heart on the photo around you two. It makes me sick. You guys look like . . . you look like you’re together.”

“Vicky. Listen.” Aidan gestures wildly in front of him. “We had a conversation. She took a photo. Big deal. She probably had too much to drink. She was just being friendly.”

“AIDAN.” Victoria puts her hands on her head, as if to protect it from the ceiling caving in. “Why did you let her put her arm around you? What were you doing for her to think that might be okay? Julie said you were talking to Bunny for hours. Hours, Aidan. What did you have to say to her that was so important?”

“I don’t remember.” Aidan takes a step back, eyes wide, as if astonished at Victoria’s line of attack. “Nothing. Nothing important. Maybe just . . . I don’t even know.”

“I think you do know. Liar.”

“This isn’t my fault, Vic. I didn’t do anything wrong.”

She wipes the air in front of her as if she might erase him, as if getting rid of him was as simple as performing a magic trick. “Asshole. You went to a party on the weekend when I was stuck with my dad, and you were probably drunk too, and you were talking to her in a cool-guy way where she thought: Yeah, I’m going to take a photo with Aidan, and draw a heart around it, and we’re going to look really cute together, and he’s going to love it. So how are you not at fault?” She puts her hands on her hips. “And why do you do this? This isn’t the first time. What, are you secretly making plans for your next girlfriend?”

He grinds his teeth for a moment before answering in a dry, detached voice. “Yeah, Vic. That’s exactly what I’m doing. Making my big plans for the future. Like the epic genius mastermind that I am.”

Kevin comes down the stairs, cautiously, taking his time. He lets one hand slide on the smooth bannister as he hops down the last step.

Once Kevin stands in the entrance to the room, he says to Aidan, slowly and very clearly: “I think you should leave.”

Victoria and Aidan both turn, surprised. I’m not sure they even noticed Kevin coming down the stairs.

I am surprised too. My whiskers bristle. Kevin seems too calm. He’s moving in slow motion. It’s strange. There is something off about him.

Aidan frowns at Kevin. “Back off, big man. We’re busy.”

Victoria shakes her head. “It’s okay, Kev. We need to talk.”

Kevin doesn’t move. “But, Vicky—”

She spins around to face him. “GET LOST, KEVIN.”

Kevin looks from his little sister to Aidan and back again. He swallows hard and winces, and I can see her reaction is painful to him. He turns and walks back up the stairs.

“Listen, Vic.” Aidan steps toward Victoria, lowering his voice. “Maybe, yeah, maybe I should be thinking about my next girlfriend, okay? Because I know EXACTLY how this goes.” His voice catches, but he presses on. “Like how your mom kicked out your dad for her new boyfriend. Like my mom throws over new guys constantly when she thinks she’s found someone better. Except they’re never better. They’re always losers. But, yeah, I understand perfectly well. You’re going to leave me the minute—THE MINUTE—you get a better offer, and I know that. I’m aware of how that works.”

Victoria’s face falls, and her mouth falls opens in shock. Her bottom lip trembles. “That’s not how I work. That’s not me at all. You’re an asshole.”

In a sudden motion, Victoria reaches out with two hands and shoves Aidan on the chest, with a hard snap of her elbows. He’s not expecting to get hit with such force, and stumbles backward.

“WHAT THE HELL?”

“You said I don’t trust you, Aidan, but I do. You’re the one who doesn’t trust me.”

“I want to trust you, Vic.” He rushes back and tries to take her hand, but she yanks it out of reach. “Victoria. I’m sorry. I didn’t know Bunny was going to take a photo. It would have been rude to say no.” When Victoria turns her back on him, he starts talking faster: “Okay. Look. Yeah, I probably talked to her a little too long. Okay? Are you happy now? I’m always surprised when someone likes me and actually wants to talk to me. But Bunny was just playing around. She probably posted that photo to get attention, to stir up drama just like this, to get people talking about her. Come on. She never even looked at me until I started going out with you. So put two and two together. This is all just a power trip for her.”

Victoria sways while listening to him, anxious, glancing over her shoulder reluctantly now and then. “Aidan . . .”

“I don’t like her. I don’t care about her at all. I love you. Just you. You know that, Vic.”

When she finally stops moving and they make eye contact, I know Victoria has already forgiven him. And he knows it too, because he relaxes and his whole face changes. He gives her that intimate look that says: You’re in this thing with me now, whether you like it or not.

But Victoria isn’t quite done. “I think you should text her and tell her to take the photo down.”

Aidan reaches up to scratch the back of his neck. “Um . . . really? That would be awkward. I don’t want to do that.”

“I don’t care. You’re going to do it anyway.”

Aidan pauses. “You know that if I text her, she and I will probably end up in a long conversation about what happened that night and why you’re mad about the photo. You’re okay with that?”

Victoria frowns again and her eyes flash with anger. “No, Aidan. I’m not okay with that. Why would you think—”

Kevin comes into our line of sight, and this time Victoria notices right away. He is like a cloud floating down the stairs. His baby face is blank, as emotionless as Dad gets, devoid of expression.

But there is one thing different about him than the last time he came downstairs: He has a gun in his hand.

And just as it is with Dad when he carries his gun, it is the only thing we all see. I scamper back under a chair. Gretel scrambles up onto her feet, ears alert.

Aidan startles, eyes open wide, and he looks to Victoria. She moves right in front of him, so she is standing between her brother and her boyfriend. Her hands move back to grab Aidan’s hands, as if she needs to shield him completely.

“What—what are you doing, Kev?” she asks, suddenly sounding much younger.

“Nothing. I just want Aidan to leave.” He walks into the room and blocks the exit, so Aidan would have to ask Kevin to move if he actually wanted to go out the front door.

“Why do you have a gun?” Aidan demands, speaking too fast and too loud. “That’s not a great idea, dude. What is wrong with you? Even your crazy robot dad gave me a gun safety lecture.”

Aidan shuts his mouth and swallows when Victoria starts tapping his hand lightly with her finger. Tap tap tap tap tap.

As if communicating: stop stop stop stop stop.

And then, out of the corner of my eye, I see Charlie. He has silently come down a few stairs, looking to see what is going on. I figure he was in his bedroom with his headphones on, but he heard the voices. I come out from under the chair, and my fur starts to stand on end. Charlie looks at me.

Don’t move, Charlie. Don’t speak. Stay hidden.

Charlie shrinks down and sits on a stair, watching through the slats of the stair railing.

Run, Charlie. Go back up the stairs.

But he does not move.

Gretel starts to pace. She has her eyes on Kevin. Back and forth, she stalks from one side of the room to the other.

At first, I think Gretel is just getting excited. I know she can read the tension in the room.

But the way she never takes her eyes off of Kevin, I start to realize she’s not just getting worked up. I think she’s getting ready to defend or attack. But Kevin isn’t watching her. He’s still glaring at Aidan.

I remember Dad saying that Gretel’s main job was finding drugs. But he did also say she was sometimes asked to attack. Was that how she got injured? Who hurt her?

I watch Gretel, fascinated.

The way her fur bristles along her spine. The way she holds her head high. The way she pulls back her upper lip so a sharp tooth comes into view.

And then: a low growl.

Gretel would never hurt Kevin. Would she? She thinks he is second-in-command in this house, after Dad.

I wonder again: Who hurt Gretel? A bad person being investigated? A criminal being chased?

Or, perhaps, did Dad or someone on his team accidentally hurt Gretel? I suppose that’s possible too. Maybe she was hurt by mistake.

Yet she trusts humans. For the most part. Most of the time.

Just not all of the time.

I listen carefully to her growl. She isn’t scared. She is just eager to get to work.

Kevin finally glances down at Gretel. “Stop it, girl. Be a good girl. You’re a good girl.” He looks back up at Victoria. “I just want Aidan to leave. I’m sick of listening to the fighting.” He doesn’t sound angry. He speaks in a calm, even voice, but he is almost speaking too slow, like his mouth is having trouble saying the words. Kevin moves his hand, the one with the gun, to gesture toward them. “You can go too, Vic. Go with him.”

“We have nowhere to go, Kev.” Victoria’s dark eyes glance down at the gun, then back up at her brother. “We can’t go to Aidan’s house. He’s trying to avoid going there. We have to stay here.”

“No, you don’t. He has a car.” Again, Kevin uses the hand with the gun to point toward the front door. “You can go anywhere you want. You just can’t stay here. I want it quiet. I’m doing my homework.”

I see Aidan starting to shake, his body quivering. He bites his lip and looks up at the ceiling. I am surprised at how quickly his eyes fill. One tear spills out and runs down his cheek. “Goddamn it. This whole family is crazier than mine. And that’s saying something.”

Victoria squeezes Aidan’s hands tighter, and they turn white with the effort. But she isn’t able to stop Aidan when he rips his hands out of hers and moves to slide past her, successfully getting around and in front of her. Kevin raises his arm.

“Are you leaving?” Kevin points the gun at Aidan.

“Aidan, don’t.” Victoria tries to wiggle and get in front of Aidan again, but he holds her off with one arm. He has switched positions with her, and now shields her body with his.

“JESUS CHRIST, KEVIN,” Aidan begs, louder now, the panic in his voice unmistakable, shaking one hand in front of him and using the other hand to hold Victoria behind him. “Why can’t you just—”

Gretel looks at me with those big wet eyes. I tip my head, to say: yes.

And no one sees it coming.

No one but me.