Page 39 of The Crush
My father scoffs, annoyed at the perceived slight to his darling son, while my thoughts venture to the sunflowers carefully arranged into a vase in my room. A few of the petals already pressed between diary pages.
“Daniel has barely left his land since he came back,” my father accuses. “No one sees him around town. I was shocked when I heard Tadeo talking about him going at Ag Hall. I only figured it was worth sending Aarón to the expo because it was big enough to draw out the recluse.”
“Danny’s been through a lot,” my mother defends, and I actually wish I could hug her. “He’ll come out of it.”
“He will,” Aarón says, nodding sagely. “And I’m sure he’ll continue to make us all proud.” His eyes flick to me once more before sliding away. “Dad, I think kickoff is in five.”
Our father nods, setting down his napkin and pushing out from the table. Aarón and Eli stand too, following him to the living room, while I remain glued to my chair.
“Mamá, why don’t you go sit for a bit?” Gabe offers when she immediately starts to clear the table. “We can take care of the dishes.”
She pauses, clearly surprised. “Don’t you want to watch the game?”
“No, no, I’ve already seen that one.”
She frowns at him in confusion. “It’s a live game.”
“Yeah, but you know…run, kick, pass.” He ushers her into the living room with an arm around her shoulders. “All kind of blurs together.”
In their absence, I try to steady myself as I get up, but my hands are shaking as I reach for the first plate.
“I’ll take that,” Gabe says hurriedly when he reappears at my side. “Broken dishes will only draw more attention. Go in the kitchen and walk it off.”
I nod, moving away with my brother a few steps behind. Once the two of us are in the kitchen and out of earshot, it all comes out in a single breath.
“Oh my God. I really thought for a second…”
“Yeah.” He sighs. “I thought you were done for.”
“But then nothing,” I say, reminding myself as well as him. “Don’t you think he would have said if he knew something? I’m okay, right?”
Gabe stares at the floor with a hand on his hip, considering. “All Aarón’s talked about since he got home is that damn expo. Said the same thing to us about having those meetings.” I wait before responding, trusting his judgment better than my own racing thoughts. “Danny didn’t let anything slip? When they ran into each other?”
“He said he handled it. Maybe I’m reading too much into things?”
“No, I think you’re right not to trust Aarón,” Gabe answers, clearly still thinking everything over. “But like you said, he hasneverbeen good at holding his tongue. On anything. If he had something this big, especially on Danny…” He frowns. “I dothink you need to be careful. Even if Aarón doesn’t know, it’s only a matter of time until someone figures it out.”
“Iknow. I know. We’re working on that.”
“Really? You guys are going to let the cat out of the bag?”
“Yeah, I think…I think so?” I smile hesitantly, gauging his reaction. “I don’t think either of us want to keep having to sneak around.” I trail off when Gabe presses his mouth into a tight line. “How bad do you think it’ll be?”
“You’re in uncharted territory here, hermanita. It’s definitely not going to begood.”
“But maybe there are worse things?” I argue. “I can’t not try. I would always wonder what could have happened otherwise.”
“Yeah,” he agrees with a frown. “You would.”
Anything I might say next is overshadowed by a sudden eruption of noise from the other room, Aarón’s shouts and claps loudest of all as the game officially gets underway.
“Just be careful,” Gabe warns as we both look in the direction of the noise. “I have a feeling your clock is ticking.”
Thirty-Two
Daniel
Saturday, October 8, 1994
