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RECKLESS. I give him a bit of a glare and he sniffs, pleased with himself.
“Show me the ones I’ll like.”
He holds up his left hand, three fingers. On his index is a tiny storm cloud with a bolt of lightning coming out of it; on his middle finger, above the old lilac that was already there, is now a cloud with a small sun poking out behind it, and then on his ring finger is a little sun.
I press my lips together and smile. ”How is the weather, Beej?” He drops his index and middle fingers down and grins at me
“And you?” He nods his chin at me.
“Very pleasant, thank you.” I nod before I wave my hand, telling him to go on. Beej rolls his eyes before he flashes me his left wrist. It’s the flower under the glass jar on the moon from The Little Prince illustrations. I squint at the flower. “Is that…?”
“A lilac.” He nods, proud of himself.
He shifts a little, points to his thigh, just below his left hip and I do a double take.
“Is that the lock from Dartmouth?” My mouth falls open.
He nods, not looking away from me.
“I love that lock!” I beam at him, touching it.
He puts his arms behind his head and looks at me tenderly. “Yeah, me too.”
“Are the rest of them bad then?”
“One more you’ll like,” he says and I lift my eyebrows, waiting. He flashes me the palm of his right hand.
On the inside of his thumb is a—
“What is it?” I frown. “I don’t—”
“—It’s the seed of a willow tree.”
“Oh,” I say softly. Then I take his hand in mine, bringing it close to my face to inspect it. I lay back down on top of him and he shifts, wrapping his arms around me. I pick up his hand again and kiss the seed and lay it on my cheek.
“I missed you, Parks,” Beej says, staring at the ceiling. “Don’t do that again.”
I glance up at him. “Do what?”
“Leave me.”
¤
The next morning we walk downstairs to breakfast.
I’m holding his hand with both of mine, hiding behind him a little because I feel shy about it. Jonah’s face cracks wide open as he jumps to his feet, pointing at us with both hands, grinning like an idiot.
“Holy fucking shit!” He claps BJ’s face between his hands, gives him a hug.
Our biggest champion, Jonah. It’s why it killed me that he covered for him.
Taura runs over to me, jaw on the floor, eyes glancing between us in disbelief.
“I can’t believe it!” she whisper-yells. “It’s a birthday miracle!”
Beej grins down at me and pulls me onto his lap, his chin resting on my shoulder.
Jonah sits back in his seat, stumped, shaking his head.
