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Seeing her dressed like our mother, I get the urge to strip her naked and rebuild her homestead-style. Instead, I grip my sister’s hand and drag her back down to the grass with me.
“It’s the booze,” I say and hug her. “It’s made me hilarious!”
“What is she saying?” Anouk asks Ike.
I stare up at my love as the giggles shake my body. He studies me and shrugs.
“She says she’s glad you’re here.”
When Anouk looks at me, I notice how her lovely face seems brighter now. I look up and realize we’re under one of those lanterns sprinkled around the homestead.
“I drank moonshine,” I tell Anouk, who frowns.
“What did she say?”
Donovan strolls over and gestures at me. Ike and his dad lift me under my armpits until I’m almost standing.
Donovan says, “I think she needs to get inside, where she can’t hurt herself.”
“She barely drank anything,” Ike replies as I shove my hand down his back pocket and give his hard ass a squeeze.
“No tolerance,” Donovan explains and then looks at an uncertain Anouk. “Does your little suitcase mean you’re staying?”
Anouk lowers her gaze and mumbles, “I’ll work for my keep. I can clean and cook. Tend to animals.”
After removing my hand from his crotch, Ike smiles at my sister. “Just settle your britches, and we’ll go inside to talk. Oana looks ready to pass out.”
“I’m perfectly fine. Never felt better,” I tell him. “Want to see me do a cartwheel?”
The next thing I know, I’m on the couch in Ike’s old house. Anouk is sitting nearby, talking to Journey. She sees me looking at her and hurries over.
“I heard you fought Mother. She said you were out of control like a rabid whore,” explains my sister as I wonder when I got inside the house. “I couldn’t believe you were so brave. When our parents went to church to figure out how to punish you, I took my things and ran away.”
Anouk grabs my hand really tight and says in a pained voice. “They want me to marry Jarin. He kissed me earlier today. I can’t seem to wash the taste of him out of my mouth. I’ll never go back.”
Cupping her face, I promise, “You can live with me forever.”
“What did she say?” Anouk asks Ike standing nearby.
“She wants you to stay.”
Though I smile at how Ike understands me, I’m unsure why Anouk can’t.
“I brought our paperwork,” Anouk tells me, still gripping my hand too hard as I feel the couch spin under me. “They were talking about how to make sure you couldn’t prove your age. That’s when I heard Father say they should hide your birth certificate and social security identification. I didn’t even know we had those.”
Standing in the kitchen, Journey explains, “They probably got them when you were little, so they could claim you on their taxes.”
When Anouk and I look at each other, I know she doesn’t understand, either. We’ll learn about the outside world together with Ike as our guide.
“You’re so smart,” I tell him.
“I know,” he replies. “I love you, too.”
Smiling up at him, I rest my spinning head on a pillow. When I open my eyes, I’m surprised by the sunlight coming through the drapes. I move my head slightly and find Ike asleep on a recliner. I don’t know where Anouk went.Was her coming here part a moonshine dream?
Ike wakes when I moan while trying to sit up. He slumps out of the chair and crawls over to me.
“How are you feeling?” he asks and settles next to me as his arm keeps my body upright.
