Page 38 of What Maple Heard

River was standing at the wall with his arms out, brush in one hand, paint on both forearms, grinning.

“Look,” he said.

We walked over.

The graffiti was gone. Every tag, every ugly spray-painted line, every bad decision from that Wednesday afternoon — covered completely.

The wall was blank and ready for new possibilities.

Later that evening, River and I were doing the dishes together after dinner. He washed. I dried. The kitchen was very quiet, just the sound of the water running and the occasional clink of a plate.

“Are you and Cade back together?” River asked.

I stopped drying mid-dish.

How did he find out?

He was looking at the sink, not at me, slowly wringing out the dishcloth.

“How did you know we weren’t even together?” I asked.

“I just knew. I can spot a break-off from a mile away.”

“No, we’re not together anymore.” I said quietly.

River nodded. He took the next plate and started washing it.

After a long, uncomfortable stretch of silence, he turned off the faucet.

“I’m sure he must have done something really bad.”

I owed River the truth about me and Cade. It was time.

“He said some really bad things about me to his friend Kyle and I heard them. What he said made me realise that we were headed in two different directions and he was not really serious about me. He said…well, he said some really mean things.”

“Did he say he didn’t want to be with you?”

Oh, you bet.

“Yes, he did.”

River crinkled his eyebrows. He thought for a long time.

“Then why is he still in your life? And mine?”

Good question buddy. I’m trying to figure that out too.

“Becasue he says he was not sure he loved me when he said those things, but now he realizes he does.”

“And do you believe him?” River asked.

That was a fairly simple question. Did I believe him? If I set aside the words that came out of his mouth that night and only considered his actions since then, did I find him genuine?

I put the dried plate down on the counter.

“I’m not sure.”

And that was the simple truth.