Page 125 of The Triangle

Alec. Christine. Danny.

“What will we do?” I ask.

I kinda feel him shrug. He’s not that far away from me. A few feet, maybe. “Whatever we want, I suppose.”

I turn my head and look at him. So perfect. Well-muscled body. Sun-bleached strands of hair blowing in the breeze. He’s not pretty. Not exactly. But he is at the same time. I don’t think he knows what he’s got. I don’t think he even knows who he really is, for that matter.

I mean, yeah. He knows he’s got more money than he could ever spend. He knows he’s in charge of his own future. He knows he’s unstoppable.

But he doesn’t quite understand his privilege.

“Ya know,” I say, “I never really asked you why.”

He smiles. Eyes closed. “Why what, bru?”

“Why us?”

“You mean… why you?”

“Sure, I guess.”

He opens his eyes and turns his head. Amber meets blue. He stares at me. For too long. So long I get an uncomfortable feeling, like he can see through me. “I’d been watching you.”

“Yeah?” I say.

He nods. “About two weeks, I reckon. You were in that gym quite a bit. But you did other things too. Beat people up. Stole shit. Picked your little sister up from school every day and walked her back to that ratty motel. I thought she was your little sister. I thought you had parents. I thought… well, I thought a lot of things.”

I wait for him to go on, but he doesn’t. So I drop it for a while. But he never answered my question. So eventually I say, “Why then?”

“Because you had it all, bru. You had everything.”

I laugh. “What are you talking about? I had nothing but Christine.”

He juts his chin towards the surf. “She was all you needed.”

“You wanted me for Christine?”

“No.” He laughs. “I just wanted what you had. Her. You. Someone who was all I needed. I wanted to be part of that. Your family.”

“Brothers then?”

“A different kind of family.”

“What other kind is there?”

He shrugs. Turns away, then turns back. “The kind you choose, Danny. That kind.”

“Oh,” I say. “Yeah, then. OK. That’s what we are. The kind you choose.”

“I love you two.”

I smile. Kinda huff out some air through my nose. “We love you back.”

“I’ll always love you two. It’s a done deal, yeah?”

I huff again. “Sure. Done deal.”

“No matter what happens, we’re the only three who matter.”