Page 81 of Alonzo

“Yes.”

“No.”

I rub a hand down my face. “Even if it’s in your best interest?”

“How do you know if it’s in my best interest?”

“It’s illegal, OK? What I do? It’s illegal, Tara. And I don’t want you mixed up with it.”

She lies back down and stares up at the sky.

“Did you hear me?”

“Of course I heard you.”

“Then… do you have anything to say?”

“Well, yeah. I would like to know what it is you do that’s illegal.”

“I can’t tell you that. I shouldn’t have told you this much. But I don’t want you to leave.”

“Huh. Because you’re doing a pretty good job at convincing me I should leave. Just go back to Colorado and take my chances with the guy named after Satan.”

“That’s the last thing I want. I hope you believe that.”

“Then what are you really asking me, Alonzo? What is your point?”

“My point is…” I inhale and hold it for a few seconds, all the possible ways I could phrase this running through my head in an instant. “My point is… Luke is happy. Emma is happy. My mother is happy. And none of them know the truth. So it’s possible to be with me the way my mother is with my father, and live a very good life.”

“And it’s just as equally possible that knowing you’re the oldest male child of the siren’s great-great-great granddaughter has already determined your path in life and there’s no way for this thing to turn out any other way than the one foretold in the story.”

“OK.” I sigh. “That’s fair. I’m tainted by myth.”

“It’s been drawn in ink all over your body.”

“I get it.”

“We’re literally lying on top of the fucking myth, Lonnie.”

“I said I get it. I’m not gonna talk you into anything.”

“I’m a naturally curious person. I told you that.”

“I know. I’m not gonna ask you to change for me.”

“That’s not fair.”

“What’s not fair?”

“You. Being all… understanding and shit.”

I turn my head to look at her. I smile. I reach for her with my hand and place it against the side of her cheek. “Full disclosure, OK? I fell in love with you some time last year. I can’t really put my finger on the exact moment, but I know it happened a while back. So me being all understanding and shit isn’t a ploy to deceive you, or trick you, or change your mind. I’m just respecting you.”

“I appreciate that. But… what if you stopped what you were doing?”

Again, my natural inclination is to say no immediately. But again, I pause to think about this. Am I beholden to this family myth? Did I set myself up for this disappointment based on some stupid story written on a rock three hundred years ago? “I guess I could.”

“I don’t want to push you. I’m not going to be responsible for your decisions. Not at this stage in the game.”