Page 99 of The Corruption of Hollis Brown

Annie looked surprised, then concerned, then offended. “Why?”

“We were close. Need to know if I’m talking to a great-granddaughter, or great-grandniece.”

“To what end?” Yulia snapped, but Annie answered anyway.

“Toji was my great-grandma’s brother. . . . You knew him?”

Walt frowned. “Oh . . . you’re Fumiko’s . . .”

Annie curled up tight, arms folded around her knees. “How old are you? Why do you know us?”

“I grew up with Toji and Fumi,” Walt said. “You look like him a lot. More than you do Fumiko. I doubt he ever mentioned me, but if he did, did he say anything about a Walt Eidelman?”

Annie shook her head, and Hollis reeled at the wave of Walt’s disappointment.

“How old are you?” Yulia echoed, impatient.

Hollis interrupted and held up his finger. “That’s not important. I have to tell you about him and Rose Town, and I want it to come from me.”

Bruise

Yulia got up and left the room when Hollis finished explaining, and he wasn’t surprised. He was kind of shocked that she stayed through the whole thing. But Annie didn’t leave, she just sat there processing it and looking curious.

“Are you all right?” Walt asked.

She tilted her head to one side, then the other.

“These past few months haven’t been great for me. I thought you were mad at me because of what we talked about at the pond. After that, I thought you were doing something dangerous and secret. Then for the past few weeks I just thought you were sick,” Annie said hesitantly. “This isn’t the best thing I’ve ever learned, but . . . at least for me, this is better. You don’t seem like anything is wrong with you physically, so I’m relieved about that. But now that I know why you were avoiding looking at me, I don’t feel as bad. I might get angry about it later though.”

“That’s okay. I’m sorry. I really didn’t mean it,” Hollis said.

Annie stuck her legs over the edge of the protective circle, smudging it on purpose, and then lay back and closed her eyes.

“I spent all of last night thinking about what I would do if this were happening to me. I think I wouldn’t know how to approach it either. I know you wouldn’t believe me, and Yulia would have freaked out so bad. Worse than this,” she whispered. “I don’t think I’m a person who could have figured out a way to live the way you guys are. I know I should probably be more upset, but I’m just really glad you’re okay, Hollis. I’m really glad you’re doing okay.”

Hollis was ashamed.

“I’m sorry, Annie. I haven’t been a good friend,” he admitted.

Annie shrugged.

“Who’s to say this isn’t the best kind of friend someone going through this can be?” she said. “Come lie down, Holly.”

Hollis waited a moment, to see if she would change her mind, but Annie didn’t say anything. He lowered himself to the hardwood floor and crossed the broken circle line. Lay on his side, head by her shoulder, curled up like a crescent roll.

“Can I talk to Walt?”

“You can talk to Walt,” Hollis said. “He’s listening.”

“Hey.” Annie turned her head, and Hollis could feel her breath rustling his hair. “Great-Uncle Toji wouldn’t be mad at you still. You should stop feeling so bad. It was a long time ago, and you were just a kid.”

“I can’t, and I wasn’t a kid,” Walt said. “You weren’t there.”

Annie sighed.

“It’s self-centered to think everything that happened is because of you. Yeah, you were a major catalyst, but they didn’t have to kill your family. They didn’t have to do any of it. They could have just hauled you back to town and handled it on an individual basis. You’re not responsible for the actions of others, you’re just responsible for you.

“I’m sure you have other things you probably need to apologize for, and I definitely don’t want to know about them. But, this? It’s whatever. Great-Uncle Toji was fine, he died old and made a bunch of my aunts and uncles. I never met him, but I’m sure he probably forgave you ages ago.”