“Stab him in the back.” Brady’s lips twist with disgust. “That’s basically what he’s doing to you and your mother and the entire church who thinks he walks on water.”
“No fucking kidding,” Finn says.
“I’d put something in his underwear, something that will burn his skin on contact.” Both boys wince. “Then, when he’s crying in pain, I’d…I’d…” I realize I don’t have the slightest clue how I’d kill him. I’m picturing a gun, but that’s probably because of all the movies I’ve seen. I don’t know how to get a gun, or if I did, how to shoot one.
Plus, this is a game. Obviously nobody is going to kill Ted.
“Finn?” I look to him. He’s slouching against the block wall a few feet away.
“I don’t think anyone should say anything more while we’re outside.” He points at the house behind him.
There’s no way my elderly neighbors can hear anything we’re saying, but he has a point.
“Have you seen him?” Finn pushes off the wall and comes closer, until he’s standing right beside me. A whoosh of warm breath tickles my cheek.
I shake my head. “He’s been in his room since before I came home. My mom said he didn’t feel well and went to lie down.”
Brady, on my other side, speaks up. “Maybe God sent down an excruciating bacteria to kill him so we don’t have to.”
Finn ignores Brady, continuing to talk to me intensely. “Did you tell your mom?”
A flash of anger settles on top of everything else I’m feeling, followed by hurt. How could a mother not believe her own child?
“She accused me of lying and threatened to take away paying for college if I tried to tell anybody else.” She knew just what to say to keep me quiet. Getting out of this place is what I want most.
Finn’s lips press together, all the muscles in his face growing taut.
“Fucking bitch,” he says, the words squeezing through clenched teeth.
“Lennon.” Brady steps in front of me, squinting as the shade from the house falls away. “You’re going to come stay with me. You can’t stay here.”
I laugh. “That’s sweet, Brady. Your mom will love that.”
“She won’t know. You stayed last night, and she had no idea. And my dad’s never home.”
“That was one night. I think after a while she’d figure it out.”
“Next week they’re going to Alaska for a cruise. We only have to keep you hidden until then. We can figure the rest out after.”
My fingers graze the warm stucco exterior of my house as I think about his offer. It wouldn’t be impossible to hide from his mom, especially not in a house that big.
I look to Finn. I want to see his face, figure out what he thinks about Brady’s idea. He’s the smartest of the three of us. He sees possibilities we’d never think to consider.
But he’s not looking at me. His gaze is trained down to the ground, where he’s rubbing the toe of his sneaker against the rocky dirt.
“Let’s do it,” I tell Brady, mustering up a smile. It’s not as beatific as Brady’s responding smile. I’m not sure anybody could smile like Brady. It has future politician written all over it, not that he aspires to be one. He wants to be a lawyer.
“Finn, you take Lennon to my car. I’ll go inside and put together a bag with her things.”
“Brady, I can—”
“If he’s been sleeping all day, he’ll have to wake up sometime.” He looks at the time on his phone. “Do you want to be there for that?”
“I chanced it this morning.”
“Only to tell your mom what happened,” he argues. “Now you have.”
Finn takes my hand and pulls me toward the gate. I follow, looking back at Brady. He’s tall and strong, and his stride is nothing less than certain as he rounds the corner of my house and disappears from sight.
