“Um, well, it’s not exactly customary, parents at prom,” I chuckle, “but yeah.When Ivy said Gil had a plan to bring your dad and Christie, I thought… anyway, it was short-notice.”
“Maggie said she was busy?”Venus asks.
“Yeah, they couldn’t make it.”
“Do you… think that’s true?”
Iknowit isn’t true.Mom and Fred’s Friday night plans haven’t changed in years—home from work, dinner, and TV.It’s what they do most nights.If they’d had real plans, I would’ve known.Not that I want to explain to Venus that Mom didn’t want to attend because of her.“I nearly lost you because of that girl.She broke your heart once.She’ll do it again.”
I sigh into her shoulder before kissing it again.“Sorry, she’s just… she’ll come around.”
She says nothing more, and I wish I could gauge her reaction.Venus loved my mom.I remember times when Ivy would receive packages from her surrogate, Marta, and instead of watching her sister gush over letters and Italian treats, Venus would grab my hand and say,“Let’s go see Maggie.”We’d find her in the kitchen, the garden, or washing the car, and Venus would find a way to join in without asking.At the time, I disliked it—the last thing I wanted to do with Venus was waste time on chores.Venus would insinuate herself awkwardly, grabbing the hose or the dish or whatever right out of Mom’s hands.“Venus, if you want to help, just ask,”Mom would say before assigning her a task.
Mom enjoyed Venus, too.In moderation.A sweet montage of Mom giving her scarves, showing her how to braid her hair, trying on jewelry, and teaching her to cook flips through my thoughts.Mom would bake her a cake on her birthday and put presents for her from Santa under the tree, though Venus never believed in“magical absurdities.”Still, Mom treated her like the daughter she never had,untilshe viewed Venus as a threat to the son she did.
I can’t imagine I’d be too happy with any friend of Olly’s causing him trouble like Venus did for me.And the night at the Fort Fisher Rock Wall that nearly cost us both our lives was traumatic for Mom, too.I’m trying to be understanding, especially since she’s struggling with the loss of Jay.
But Mom needs to get over her problems with Venus.
The next morning, we drive to Seagrove for a six-mile hike around the lake.It’s nothing like the wild excursions she’s used to, but she loves it anyway, and I’m glad I took Marnie’s suggestion.There’s nothing more beautiful than Venus in the outdoors—it’s where she thrives and relaxes, where she feels most at home.
Venus picks wildflowers along the way, tucking them into her hair, and educates me on the mosses, mushrooms, and ferns we encounter along the dirt path.We take diversions around the lake bank and into the dense pine trees.
She climbs a spindly and widely-stretched live oak tree and stands hero-like, twenty feet up.I take pictures to show Olly later.
She beams as she says, “Henry, it’s just like old times.”
She climbs down, and I greet her with a wild kiss.“Notexactlylike old times,” I grin, and she laughs.
At a rickety old dock, she strips down to her blue bikini and jumps in.Once I’m convinced that she’s scared away any gators in the vicinity, I get in, too.She pretzels me with her legs and warms me with kisses.
“I’m having so much fun,” she says between our lips.
“Oh, yeah?”I dunk her in the murky water.She emerges aghast and ready for retaliation.A back-and-forth game ensues until we fall into kissing again.
Later, over hot dogs at a retro convenience store called the G&G, she offers to host our first campout at the fairy house.“I’m pet-sitting Buster next weekend.Do you think you could get Olly for the weekend, too?”
“I’m sure Carly wouldn’t mind swapping some nights.”
She smiles as I wipe mustard from the corner of her mouth.
“I’ll talk to Mom, too,” I say.“Don’t feel bad about them not coming to prom, okay?Mom just needs time.”
Venus nods.“Maggie liked me once.She could again, if she’ll let go of her negativity bias.”
“What do you mean?”
“She once confessed that my standing up to Dale about his smoking helped convince her to do the same.She never told you that?”
“Um, no.”
I recall Venus’s directness with my father vividly.“You shouldn’t smoke close to Henry or in the house at all,”she told him, before rattling off facts about the dangers of secondhand smoke and particulates.It made me cringe and cheer at once, like so many times in school when she defended me or herself despite the conflict and negative attention it caused.
My hand brushes through my hair.“I didn’t know that.Why wouldn’t she’ve told me?”
“That’s the negativity bias in effect.Most people have a negativity bias—it’s not just Maggie.It’s a psychological tendency to dwell on the negative and give bad experiences more importance.It’s like how you might remember a bad day more than an average or good one.It’s difficult for Maggie to see beyond the ways I’ve hurt you, Henry.She remembers the worst of me.”
“That’ll change.I promise.”I lean forward, planting my elbows on the edge of the picnic table.“She’s done the same with Uncle Jay, holding on to her guilt and pain over his death instead of just… remembering him.She can’t even talk about him.”
