Page 15 of Mayflower

Dad’s eyes right away bore into me, and in a second, I realize that it’s the first time I laughed since we started talking.

Little boasts to him about his Swiss Army knife.

“Where is that from?” Dad asks.

“Raven.”

“I see.”

“Snake,” Little says, narrowing his eyes on my dad. For a second, I’m appalled that he calls my dad that.

“Say that again?” Dad asks in a harsher tone.

“Snake, the code word."

“Code word for what?”

“Danger.”

“Explain?”

Little makes an important face. “When there’s danger, and you need to give a warning, you use a code word. Then this!” He shoves the knife’s blade into the screen, making my dad snort. “You use that to protect yourself. Raven taught me.”

“He did?”

“Yeah. I know moves.”

“That good.”

“That’s good,” Little says with intentional articulation.

“Excuse me?”

“You have to say it correctly. ‘That’s. Good,’” Little says importantly, and I almost burst out in laughter again.

Dad frowns, not understanding, so Little explains. “You have to learn to talk properly. Raven taught me.”

Dad’s eyes shift to me, and I shrug with a smile.

Tonight, I go to Raven’s bungalow again. It’s becoming a habit. Being in his place feels like he is just… away. Temporarily.

Tonight, Archer brings me Raven’s phone. “We looked through it but didn’t find anything useful. There is no way to track the calls. Not that it would help in…”

He goes silent.

In finding him, I finish the sentence.

I nod, and when he leaves, I stare at Raven’s phone, wondering if I’m grasping for straws. But here’s the thing about those who lose the most important people in their lives. They need those straws. Those are the only bridge to sanity.

6

RAVEN

A WEEK AGO

Skiba scowls as he presses the gun barrel to my temple.

His words are drowned by the rain pouring against the jungle canopy. But I hear the verdict.

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