Cori’s shoulders tensed as we merged onto I-5, heading north. My eyes gauged her expression.Mercurial. Inscrutable. Enigmatic.
“Do you want music?” I asked. “Or maybe I should turn on the AC?”
“I’m good. You can put on the Mariners game if you want.”
“Sure.”
She liked baseball. I’d forgotten. At one point, I had known, but…I’d managed to forget. Forced myself. That was what would happen if it took too long to find Johnny. I’d start remembering more and more. Things I’d worked so hard to shut away. We needed to find her brother,inmediatamente.
But even though my brain knew that, my eyes were drawn to her as they’d always been, trying to solve a puzzle.
Her clothes fit like a glove. Just jeans and a sweater, but still, she looked expensive. Buttoned-up, hair tight, unlike before. As a teenager, she’d never been very social, but had always tried tofit in enough to fade into the background. It was safer that way in our neighborhood, especially for a white girl with red hair. My pops was as Irish as the guy on the Lucky Charms box, but all my looks came from Mamá, so I’d never had to deal with it. Cori and Johnny, on the other hand, had to work hard not to stick out.
She was definitely gonna get noticed once we got to Everett. We needed to do something about that.
Cori blew a loud raspberry when the Mariners went down one-two-three in the bottom of the fourth.
The mid-inning commercials came on, and she lowered the volume, angling her head toward me. “I know you said we’re going someplace near the old neighborhood, but why do you think Johnny will be there?”
“I’ve picked him up there before. When I let him crash with me.”
She curled her fingers into her palms. “I haven’t been back to Everett since my mom died.”
“Not at all?” Cori and Johnny’s mom had passed away over a decade ago. I knew from talking to Johnny and my family that Cori didn’t make it to Everett much, but I hadn’t realized she’d never been back.
She shook her head and pulled one of her feet up to the bench seat, looping her arms around her knee to rest her chin on top.
“After she died, it felt like there was nothing left for me there,” Cori said. “Nothing but bad memories.” I flinched but kept my eyes on the road, not daring to look at her. She leaned back in her seat and continued, “Then I ran into Rosa six months ago, randomly at the mall. I hadn’t seen her since I took off. That was around the same time we got this incredible offer at my company, and it felt like the universe was trying to tell me something. Rosa and I talked for almost three hours. She let me buy her one of those jalapeño pretzels she loves, and she treated me the way she always had, like no time had passed. It remindedme that there were some good things…good times. Maybe I didn’t have to leaveeverythingin the rearview.”
I hummed, considering. “I saw Rosa a few weeks ago when I visited my parents. She and Mamá made dinner. I’d never leave that lady in the rearview because then…no tacos.”
Cori huffed. “Don’t say tacos.”
“Huh?”
“Never mind.”
“Actually, Rosa seemed pretty upset about something. She was having a heavy conversation with Mamá when I came in. But she wouldn’t tell me about it. She just grabbed my chin and hit me with the ‘don’t worry,mijo.’ Maybe if you see her again, she’ll tell you.”
“I seriously doubt that, Deck, since our little conference over mall pretzels was literally the first time I’ve seen her in years. I’ve emailed and texted a few times since, but we mostly just talk about stupid stuff. The Center. Her birds. My job. Not sure we’re at thespill-your-secretsphase quite yet.”
I shrugged. “I don’t think that matters. You were really special to her back in the day.”
Cori turned her head to look out the window. “I’ll see what I can do. We’re overdue for another meetup, anyway.” She exhaled heavily, fogging the glass. “I have time to figure it out, though, right? Since I’m guessing we won’t run into Rosa wherever we’re headed. Unless you’re thinking Johnny is sitting in her kitchen right now, drinking Jarritos?”
My jaw flexed. “Sorry.”
She angled her head to watch as we passed an industrial area on the side of the freeway. After a minute, the game came back on, but she didn’t turn it up. Instead, she asked, “Why did you tell Johnny not to let me know you guys were hanging out?”
“Caray, Cori…this again?”
“C’mon, Deck. It’s crazy that I’m just now finding out you’ve been backfor two years.”
“Did you need to know?” I snapped, not wanting to open this subject. “Why does it matter, since it sounds like you’ve been pretty done with the old neighborhood? And all the people from your past.”
She squeezed her eyes shut and put her foot back on the floor of the cab before fisting her hands in her lap again. “That’s…fair,” she gritted out. “Like I said, I’ve been…reevaluating…those decisions lately. And that’s on me. But you’re not just some random person I used to know.”
“No?” My voice pitched as she entered dangerous territory.
