“It was a phase, all right? Now let me finish:Tell Thiago that you’re an adult now and you don’t need his help anymore. And tell Taylor you’ll always be his best friend. Tell him you love him like the big brother you never had and that you hope he’ll finally let you use his chemistry set.Yeah, can I use your chemistry set?”
“You can use whatever you like, babe,” Taylor said with a nudge. “Just leave out that shit about loving me like a brother. I’m not into incest.”
I knew I was blushing, and I was glad it was too dark out for either of them to see my face. I went on: “Remember that no matter what happens, you and Tay and Thiago swore to be best friends forever. It’s true that Thiago acts like a dummy a lot of thetime, but you know he cares about you by the way he waits by his window every night to say good night using the flashlight signals you made up together.”
Taylor cut me off: “Excuse me, what’s this about the flashlights?”
“We had like a code, you know, because we could see each other through the window,” I said with a shrug. It got quiet, so I hurried to finish: “I hope you’re really happy. I love you. Love, Kami from the past.Well, that was interesting.” I folded up the letter and stuck it in my pocket.
“Absolutely,” Taylor said. “I’m up.” He laughed as soon as he opened the envelope: “Dear Taylor from the future. I hope you’re playing for the NBA. If not, then go to hell. Take it easy. Taylor from the past.”
“That’s it?” I asked, unable to believe it.
“I guess I was dead set on it.”
Thiago shook his head as Taylor and I looked at him. “Your turn, bro,” Taylor said.
But Thiago hesitated. “I don’t know if going into my past thoughts and feelings is the best idea.”
“Come on!” I said. “It’s fun!”
“Yeah, bro, do it!”
“No thanks,” Thiago declined, and reaching into the box he brought out a magnifying glass, and said, “What is this doing in there?”
“I figured since you were the oldest, you’d probably have trouble seeing,” Tay said with a laugh. “Now don’t change the subject. Read it,” Taylor exclaimed.
When Thiago insisted that he wouldn’t, his younger brother tore it out of his hand. Thiago looked uncomfortable. I glanced back and forth between them, wondering what the big deal was, as Taylor started to read:
“Dear future Thiago: I hope when you finally find this, you’ve stopped feeling the way you do. I hope Dad’s stopped cheating on Mom and everything’s gone back to the way it was before.” Taylor stopped and looked at his brother. After a brief pause, he continued: “I hope Tay still doesn’t know about any of that, and I hope you’re in college now playing for the best basketball team you can find. You’re good, now get out there and live my dream. And another thing: I hope by the time you dig up this box, you’ve got the courage to tell Kam how you feel about her.”
Fuck. I didn’t see that coming. Taylor paused for a second and gripped the letter more tightly. I looked at Thiago, my heart racing.
“Our kiss was even better than I’d thought it would be, and I’m sure she liked it too. She’s the girl of my dreams, treat her right and tell her every day how special she is. See you in ten years. Thiago.”
After he’d finished, Taylor asked, “You guys kissed?” He hadn’t taken his eyes off the letter.
Thiago stood. “That was ages ago, dude.”
Taylor stood up too. “Were you ever going to tell me?” he asked angrily.
I was speechless, and Thiago answered for me calmly. “Why would she? It was kiddie shit.”
“What else did y’all do?”
“Nothing, Taylor,” I said, but all I could think about was what had happened between us just a couple of weeks ago, or what had almost happened on the day Thiago came to talk to me about my brother.
“You were in love with her?” Taylor shouted.
I couldn’t believe how closed-minded he was being. “Taylor, he was twelve years old.”
“Who cares? I’ve been in love with you since I was nine.”
I felt lightheaded. That was news. I took a step toward him, he looked so upset I just wanted to give him a hug, but he held outa hand to stop me. “The party’s about to start. I’ll see you there. I need some time to myself right now.”
He turned around and walked off, and I watched him disappear into the trees.
“Did you know?” I asked Thiago.
“That he was nuts about you? Kam, who isn’t?”
I didn’t really know what that meant. Thiago crouched down and put everything back in the box, then turned on the flashlight on his phone and started walking back. “Come on,” he said. “Leave your shovel, I’ll come back and get them tomorrow.”
I didn’t say a word on the way back, and once we emerged from the woods into his yard, I could hear the music blasting from the Di Biancos’ house.
“Let the party begin.”
