Page 212 - My FlipBook

L IS A J. L A W R E N C E

There was no point in saying no—he’d bring it anyway.
He slipped on his boots by the door and streaked across the
street in his T-shirt. The streetlights had just turned on.
At the table, the conversation turned to policies on refu-
gees. This should get interesting, Greta thought. It was hard
to imagine Elgin turning anyone away. Civil war? Come live
at my house! By Alice’s arm, Greta’s phone started to vibrate.
“Nate probably wants to bring Monopoly too,” Greta said,

nudging Ash’s leg. “You get it.”
Alice picked up the phone and gave it an underhand toss,
which Ash caught. “Hello?” He already sounded annoyed,
ready to say no to whatever Nate suggested. The phone
fumbled in his hand before his fingers gripped it again. He
shot forward to the edge of the cushion. Turning to look at
Greta, he enunciated every word, pulling the phone from his ADVANCE READING COPY

ear until he only spoke into the mouthpiece. “Piss off. There’s
been a coup.” Then he hung up.
The conversation at the table died.
“That was Roger,” Ash said, dropping the phone onto
Nate’s empty cushion and leaning back.
Greta found her voice. “Why’d you hang up?!”
“I didn’t want to talk to him.”
“Maybe I wanted to talk to him!”
“What for? Hey, Dad, how’s life been since you abandoned us?”

“I don’t know!” She grasped for an answer, something
to throw back at him. What would she say to him? “Give me
the phone.” She pointed to the cushion and waited for Ash
to pass it over.

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