“Knowing people will enjoy it makes him very happy,” she smiles.
I return the treasure to its protective case and shove it into my bag.I have other megalodon teeth from Uncle Jay’s collection, but none have been found locally.It adds credibility when an artifact isn’t purchased online and comes with a personal story.
Dr.Kwon isn’t the first to offer me family treasures after learning about my mission to make Weird But True Wilmington an accurate representation of our eclectic community.It thrills me to be an unexpected curator of local history.
The spring humidity hits me as soon as I exit the building.I check my watch.I have thirty minutes to make it back to school before my third block.I glance toward the pond and scan the area for the woman with wild hair, but she’s gone.
CHAPTER8
Venus
The Land Roversqueaks to a stop beside me, earning a long-winded honk from drivers scooting around it.Dad rolls down his window.
“Venus, please, get in.We don’t have to talk.”
My boots scrape against the concrete, my folded arms drop, and I take a cleansing breath.I shouldn’t have left him there, and as the sharp energy rush settles to a gentle current, I feel embarrassed for allowing words and memories to dictate my actions.
I climb into the passenger seat, buckle my seatbelt, and stare out the window as he maneuvers away from the curb.He keeps his promise, saying nothing as he navigates to our next destination.
Roma’s is busy, but we’re given a small table on the back porch.I tighten and loosen the scarf still tied around my wrist, focusing on the pressure, while my boots tap under the table.
Dad orders sweet tea for us and pushes a bowl of homemade pickles toward me.Then, he distracts me with a game we used to play, where we’d take turns pointing out living things in our natural surroundings using their scientific names.
Taxodium distichum.Bald Cypress.
Tillandsia usneoides.Spanish Moss.
Ardea herodias.Great Blue Heron.
Amused, he spots my discovery over his shoulder.
The tension leaves me, but slowly, like the fronds of aHenricus filicisdetaching one by one and taking flight on a gentle breeze.This is a game he cannot play with Ivy, as she has never shown interest in plants, only in humans.This makes itourgame.
We order our meals, and in the silence of waiting, I finally say, “Sorry, Dad.”
“Thank you, I accept your apology, and I’m sorry, too,” he says.“Ah,Lonicera sempervirens.” He points to the bank of the lake where white flowers protrude from a tangle of vines.“Remember when you used to sit on the fence post, sucking the nectar from the honeysuckle’s flower?”
“I’d do anything for sweets,” I smirk.“The yield failed to satisfy, though, considering the effort.”
“Remember how nervous Henry was the first time he tried it?”
“Poor inside person.”I shake my head.“He feared that the pollen might make his head explode.Though given his medical history and his mother, I don’t blame him.He did try one, eventually—a completely nonexplosive event.”
Dad chuckles.“Do you still think about him much?”
I untangle the blue scarf from around my hand and retie it in my hair, pulling my long waves into a messy bun.“I try not to.”
It’s the best answer I’m able to give, but Dad nods in quiet understanding and doesn’t push.I need time to consider his remarks—time when I’m not spun up in my energy vortex.Dad seems to understand that about me, almost like he can see when my edges start to fray.
It’s what he saw when I begged him to send me away, except it wasn’t a vortex that I was in, but a void I couldn’t free myself from without his help.He gave in, relenting to my sheer desperation.
Iwasdesperate—a feeling I never want again.Desperate to free myself from the education I wassupposedto receive, from cold shoulders and rolling eyes, from unfair expectations, from feeling trapped.Desperate to free Henry, too.
Still, given the day’s events so far, I decide to reach out to Dr.Broderick for an emergency session.I don’t enjoy discussing my feelings, but talking to a paid professional and an objective academic makes it easier.I need to regain my footing if I have any chance of surviving this summer.
Iwantto see this through.To live up to Dad’s expectations rather than be his disappointment.For once.It’ll also provide me with the opportunity to alleviate his misguided guilt.Succeeding this summer would reassure him that sending me away at eighteen was best for everyone.
It’ll make leaving again easier, too.
