“Holy shit! Is that her?”
“Carlos, you shouldn’t be smoking.” Sid ignores the question, heading for a shed where several bikes are parked.
“It is. That’s totally her.” The kid tamps the cigarette out on the wooden railing.
Sid rolls his eyes and says, “Kayla, meet Carlos Dominguez.”
“Hi!” Carlos rushes down the stairs, at my side before I can muster up a reply. “James told us all about it. I thought he was full of shit, but then Mr. Sullivan came and—”
“Give that here.” Sid plucks the cigarette out of the boy’s hand.
The kid keeps talking as if this has happened a hundred times before. “Did you actually shoot Sid? With a rock?”
“Um…” I have no idea how to answer this.
“Yeah. She did.”
“That’s amazing!” The kid starts laughing. “I’d be in so much trouble if I did that. Wow. He won’t even let me get a slingshot.”
“And now you know why.”
“Welcome to the farm!” Carlos grabs my hand and shakes it so violently, it’s impossible not to be charmed. “Where’s the other girl? Tom said you had a sister, right?”
“She’s still at the hospital,” I say.
“Oh, shit.” He drops my hand, eyes wide. “Is that why you’re here? Shit, thatsucks. That sucks big time.”
“Yes, thank you, Carlos,” says Sid. “She doesn’t want to talk about it.”
“No, it’s fine. April’s going to be okay, but… yeah, itdoes suck.” And it’s nice to hear someone say it out loud.
“Okay, cool. I’ll tell the other guys you need space,” says Carlos. “We’re super chill, so you don’t have to worry about anyone giving you crap for keeping your shit to yourself.”
“Thank you, Carlos.” Sid places one of his hands over Carlos’s face, covering almost his entire head, then shoves him away. “Get out of here.”
“Are youstayinghere, Kayla?” he asks, stumbling towards the stairs.
“I think so?” I look over at Sid, who gives a sharp nod.
“Tom appointed me her sanctuary host.”
“He did? Dude, that’s awesome! How’d you talk him into that?”
“Just good luck!” I say with a bright chirrup. No need to tell people it’s because Tom thinks I’m a menace to society and only Sid was willing to risk my company.
“Are you gonna stay forever?” Carlos asks. “It would be cool, having girls on the farm.”
“Carlos.” Sid gives him a warning look.
“I just mean because it would be different! Like,cool.” When my mouth pops open in alarm, he helpfully adds, “The acreage is supposed to house a few more people, so we figured if we could get some sanctuary seekers, that would beef up our numbers. And it would be cool if it wasn’t such a sausage fest, too. Like, what’s a community without any women?”
“I…” My chest seizes up. Sid mentioned his “guys” when he was talking to Tom, but how many exactly are there? “We’re not staying. Tom said we didn’t have to stay. We’re just here until—”
“She’s going to want to go somewhere else eventually,” says Sid.
“What! Why?” Carlos looks positively wounded.
“Well… even I can admit, this isn’t the most hospitable environment,” says Sid, disappearing into the bike shed.
